Cardiac Arrhythmias Flashcards
what are the two types of cardiac arrhythmias
tachy arrhythmias and brady arrhythmias
what are the types of tachy arrhythmias?
atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia
what are the types of brady arrhythmias?
heart block and drug induced (b blocker, digoxin)
what is the most common pulse for bradyarrhythmia?
50bpm
what happens with a heart block?
slow/no conduction through the AV node to ventricles of impulse from SA node
what is the ECG for a heart block?
prolonged p-q intervals on ECG
what are the different levels of heart block classified by?
1st degree, 2nd degree, 3rd degree (also termed complete heart block as no impulse passed to ventricles)
what do tachyarrhythmias do?
impair cardiac function by reducing diastolic filling time leading to heart failure
what can be seen on ECG with atrial tachyarrhythmias?
narrows QRS on ECG and no p waves
what is atrial fibrillation?
rapid atrial impulses conducted to ventricles giving high heart rate
what is the pulse like for atrial fibrillation?
irregularly irregular pulse
what is the ECG like for ventricular tachyarrhythmias
broad QRS
what are cardiac pacemakers used to treat?
bradyarrhythmias
what do cardiac pacemakers do?
keeps the heart rate at a minimum level
when do pacemakers stop pacing the heart?
if the pace of the heart is above a certain level
what causes pacemakers to shut down?
electrical interference such as induction scalers
what are some pacemakers implanted with?
implanted defibrillator
what is the p wave?
atrial depolarisation
what is the QRS complex?
ventricular depolarisation
what is the T wave?
ventricular repolarisation
what is ventricular fibrillation
unstable heart electrical activity - heart attack
what happens in the heart with ventricular fibrillation
muscle fibres contracting in ventricles at random so there is no emptying of the ventricle
how do you treat ventricular fibrillation?
defibrillation
what is asystole
no cardiac output
