Arrythmias 3

Question 1

Idioventricular rhythm

Answer 1

20-40 BPM
ventricles originate own impulses at intrinsic rate
missing P waves and wide QRS complexes
Regular rhythm

Question 2

Ventricular tachycardia

Answer 2

regular with minimal RR variation
Rate exceeds 100 BPM
wide QRS
can be monomorphic or polymorphic

Question 3

Premature ventricular complex

Answer 3

Regular rhythm unless PVC occurs
wide QRS without a preceding P wave
can be unifocal or multifocal
multifocal depends on where the impulse originates from which changes the morphology.
can be in couplets,triplets

Question 4

Ventricular fibrillation

Answer 4

Rhythm in which heart is no longer contracting.
Quivering without organised contraction due to random depolarisation of many cells.
Can be coarse or fine

Question 5

VF mechanism

Answer 5

ventricles attempting to contract at a rate of up to 500bpm causes rapid and irregular electrical activity. Cause unknown but could be caused by re-entry circuits of multiple small wavelets. Could be caused by a mother rotor which gives rise to multiple unstable wavefronts.