Atrial Rhythms Flashcards
Altered automaticity and triggered activity are disorders in impulse ______ while reentry is a disorder in impulse _____
formation, conduction
What do atrial dysrhythmias associated with altered automaticity include what?
premature atrial complexes, supraventricular tachycardia, atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation
What three things can cause atrial dysrhythmias?
altered automaticity, triggered activity, reentry
What causes triggered activity?
when escape pacemaker and myocardial working cells depolarize more than once after stimulation by a single impulse
How would you define reentry/reactivation?
condition in which an impulse returns to stimulate tissue that was previously depolarized-> an impulse enters a cell during its relative refractory period
What three things does reentry need?
a potential conduction circuit or pathway, a block within part of the circuit, delayed conduction with the remainder of the circuit
What atrial dysrhythmias are associated with reentry?
premature atrial complexes (PAC’s), Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT)
How can you identify a PAC?
early/premature P waves, positive (upright) P waves in lead II that differ in shape from sinus P waves, and early P wave may or may not be followed by a QRS complex
What is this showing?
premature atrial complex
What is this showing and how do you know?
P wave with no QRS after, nonconducted PAC
PAC patterns
atrial _____ : every other beat is a PAC
atrial ______ : every third beat is a PAC
atrial ______: every fourth beat is a PAC
bigeminy, trigeminy, quadrigeminy
What term defines when the size, shape and direction of P waves vary?
wandering atrial pacemaker/ multiformed atrial rhythm
What is this and how do you know?
wandering atrial pacemaker, at least 3 different P wave configurations are required to make this diagnosis
What term describes when wandering atrial pacemaker is associated with ventricular response of 100 beats/min or greater?
multifocal atrial tachycardia
What is this showing?
multifocal atrial tachycardia
What bucket term describes tachydysrhythmias that originate above the bifurcation of the bundle of His, or dysrhythmias with a rapid ventricular rate and narrow QRS complex but with an uncertain specific origin?
supraventricular tachycardia
What term is a series of rapid beats from an atrial ectopic focus, often precipitated by a PAC and rapid atrial rate overrides the SA node and becomes the pacemaker?
atrial tachycardia
What rate does atrial tachycardia have to be between?
150-250 beats/min
What does this signify?
atrial tachycardia
What type of atrial rhythm has a rate of 250-350 in type 1 and 350-450 in type 2?
atrial flutter
What is this and how do you know?
atrial flutter, looks like shark teeth
t/f, chronic atrial flutter is normal
false, very unusual and usually reverts to sinus rhythm or atrial fibrillation
What is the clinical significance of atrial flutter?
beats so fast that blood pools and stays there which can increase risk of clotting and stroke
What term occurs when there is a rate of 400-600 beats/min so the atria quivers due to multiple reentry circuits in the atria?
atrial fibrillation
true or false, there is no p wave in atrial fibrillation because of the quivering of the atrial muscle and because there is no uniform wave of depolarization
true, this is why there is no p wave
What is this?
atrial fibrillation
What is this?
a fib with AV block
a fib tends to turn into ____ which means you should ____
v-fib, defibrillate
