Arrythmia Flashcards
What is an arrhythmia
Abnormal rhythm of the heart
Accelerated, slow or irregular heart rates caused by abnormalities in the electrical impulses of the myocardium
Pathway of electrical discharge in the heart
SA NODE - > AV NODE -> bundle of his -> purkinje fibers
Pacemaker of the Heart
SA NODE
Autonomic regulation of the pacemaker
Vagal activity d decreases heeart rate
sympathetic activity increases heart rate
Three main mechanisms of tachycardia
Increased automaticity
reentry
triggered activity
What is increased automaticity in tachycardia
Repeated Spontaneous depolarization of an ectopic focus in response to catecholamines
What is the reentry mechanism in tachycardia
Tachycardia initiated by ectopic beats and sustained by reentry circuit
Commonest cause of tachyarrhythmias
Reentry circuit
What is triggered activity in mechanism of tachycardia
Secondary depolarized arising from an uncompletely repolarised cell membrane
Mechanisms of bradycardia
Reduced automaticity from sinoatrial node
Conduction blocks - failure of nerve impulse to propagate along an axon
Classification of arrhythmias
Normotopic arrhythmias - irregular heartbeat with SAnode as pacemaker
Ectopic arrhythmia- irregular heartbeat, sinoatrial node not pacemaker
Type of normotopic arrythmias
Sinus bradycardia
Sinus tachycardia
Sinus Arrhythmia
What is sinus bradycardia
Reduction in discharge of impulses from SA node resulting in decreased heart rate. The heart rate becomes less than 60bpm.
Physiological causes of sinus bradycardia
Sleep
Athletic heart
Pathological causes of sinus bradycardia
Hypothyroidism
Raised Intracranial pressure
Raised Intracranial pressure