"Diagnosis Wenckebach" YouTube Style

A spoof of Justin Timberlake's song done by the University of Alberta 2010 medicine class. Wenckebach is a cardiac arrhythmia -- type 1 second degree AV block, also known as Mobitz I, as they clearly explain in the clip.

This video seems to be quite a hit I was unaware of until our hospital medicine fellow told us today.


EKG of Second Degree Type 1 AV Block, Mobitz I, Wenckebach.

Second degree AV block is characterized by a failure of one or more atrial impulses to reach the ventricles. Type I second degree AV block, or Wenckebach, requires prolongation of the PR interval prior to the blocked impulse with subsequent shortening of the PR interval with the next conducted impulse. On the ECG, the R-R interval progressively shortens up to the point of the blocked ventricular impulse. This occurs because the largest increment in the PR interval occurs between the first and second cycle. The site of block in Type I second degree AV block is the AV node. This conduction disturbance most often is physiologic and seen with high vagal tone and during sleep. Pacing is rarely indicated. Image source: AskDrWiki, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.


Karel Frederik Wenckebach, M.D. Image source: Government of Malta.

The type of AV block described above was named after Karel Frederik Wenckebach, a Dutch-born Austrian internist, (1864- 1940). In 1899 he provided a description of irregular pulses due to partial blockage of AV conduction which created a progressive lengthening of conduction time. This condition was referred to as a "second degree AV block" (Mobitz Type I), and later named the Wenckebach phenomenon. Source: Wikipedia.

Dr. Wenckebach wrote in the Lancet: "I owe my reputation to the fact that I use digitalis in doses the text books say are dangerous and in cases that the text book say are unsuitable." Source: WhoNamedIt.com.

Related:
YouTube as a Source of Health Misinformation. Highlight HEALTH 2.0, 02/2008.
YouTube as a source of information on immunization: a content analysis. Keelan et al. JAMA. 2007 Dec 5;298(21):2482-4.

Updated: 02/06/2008