Which of the following is an example of electrical failure within the heart?

• A. Atrial flutter
• B. Asystole
• C. Ventricular fibrillation
• D. Pulseless electrical activity

Answer: (C)

Ventricular fibrillation is the best example because it shows chaotic, disorganized electrical activity in the ventricles that prevents the heart from contracting in a coordinated way. The result is no effective ventricular pump, so there’s little to no cardiac output. This is a true electrical failure of the heart’s rhythm, requiring immediate defibrillation and CPR.

By comparison, atrial flutter is a rapid but still organized atrial rhythm and can allow some ventricular contraction; asystole is a complete lack of electrical activity (no impulses at all), which is a different type of electrical cessation; pulseless electrical activity refers to electrical activity present without a palpable pulse due to ineffective heart muscle contraction, a separate scenario where the problem is not chaotic electrical activity in the ventricles.