Many electrocardiographic (ECG) signs that mimic or simulate acute coro-nary artery disease1 can activate ST-segment alarms in continuous cardiac monitoring systems that alert nurses to urgent problems. Common mimics include T-wave inversion as a result of digoxin therapy or acute neurological disease, early repolarization pattern, and pericarditis that mimics the ECG injury pattern of acute coronary occlusion. Critical care and acute care nurses in all settings should be able to recognize the ECG signs of pericarditis so as to distinguish them from the ECG signs of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).
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