Which ECG finding is rapid, slurred upslope to the R wave immediately after the end of the P wave, characteristic of WPW?

Which ECG finding is rapid, slurred upslope to the R wave immediately after the end of the P wave, characteristic of WPW?

• A. Cardiac Output
• B. Delta Wave
• C. Absence seizure
• D. Spina Bifida

Answer: (B)

The main concept here is recognizing the delta wave, a preexcitation sign seen in Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. In WPW, an accessory conduction pathway bypasses the AV node, causing part of the ventricle to depolarize earlier than usual. This early ventricular activation creates a small, slurred upstroke at the start of the QRS complex—the delta wave. That slurred upslope immediately after the end of the P wave is the classic description of a delta wave, and it also helps explain a shortened PR interval and a widened QRS in WPW. The other options don’t fit because they aren’t ECG findings: cardiac output is a hemodynamic measure of blood pumped per minute, absence seizures are neurological events, and spina bifida is a neural tube defect.

The main concept here is recognizing the delta wave, a preexcitation sign seen in Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. In WPW, an accessory conduction pathway bypasses the AV node, causing part of the ventricle to depolarize earlier than usual. This early ventricular activation creates a small, slurred upstroke at the start of the QRS complex—the delta wave. That slurred upslope immediately after the end of the P wave is the classic description of a delta wave, and it also helps explain a shortened PR interval and a widened QRS in WPW.

The other options don’t fit because they aren’t ECG findings: cardiac output is a hemodynamic measure of blood pumped per minute, absence seizures are neurological events, and spina bifida is a neural tube defect.