Which arrhythmia involves a rapid succession of abnormal electrical impulses in the ventricles?

Ventricular tachycardia is characterized by a rapid series of electrical impulses that originate in the ventricles, leading to a heartbeat that is faster than normal, typically exceeding 100 beats per minute. This arrhythmia can occur in a variety of clinical settings, often associated with structural heart disease, ischemia, or previous myocardial infarction.

In ventricular tachycardia, the normal electrical conduction pathway is disrupted, resulting in the ventricles contracting rapidly and ineffectively. This can compromise cardiac output and may lead to more serious arrhythmias, making recognition and management critical.

The other options provided involve different mechanisms or sites of origin for their abnormal electrical activity. Atrial flutter occurs in the atria and involves a rapid reentrant circuit; ventricular fibrillation is a chaotic electrical activity that results in ineffective quivering of the ventricles, not a rapid regular rhythm; and supraventricular tachycardia originates above the ventricles, typically involving the atria or the junctional tissue. Each of these conditions has distinct characteristics and implications for treatment that differ from ventricular tachycardia.