CVS10 Arrhythmias and CVS drugs-Evita Flashcards
define bradycardia
Heart rate lower than 60 beats per minute
define tachycardia
Heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute
List the different types of heart arrhythmias
- bradycardia
- atrial flutter
- atrial fibrillation
- tachycardia
- ventricular fibrillation
What is ventricular tachycardia?
Overly fast heart rate originating from the ventricles
What can ventricular tachycardia lead to?
Ventricular fibrillation
define supraventricular tachycardia
tachycardia originating above the ventricles, i.e. in the atria or the conduction system between the atria and ventricles
list the four causes of tachycardia
- ectopic pacemaker activity
- afterdepolarisations
- atrial flutter/atrial fibrillation
- re-entry loop
list the 2 causes of bradycardia
- sinus bradicardia
- sick sinus syndrome
- drugs
- conduction block
why may an ectopic pacemaker potential occur?
- damaged area of the myocardium becomes depolarised and spontaneously active
- latent pacemaker region is activated due to ischaemia and dominates over the SAN
what are afterdepolarisations?
abnormal depolarisations following an action potential
what type of tachycardia does atrial fibrillation cause?
supraventricular tachycardia
what is sick sinus syndrome?
intrinsic sinoatrial node dysfunction (it’s a group of disorders)
what can sick sinus syndrome lead to?
sinus bradycardia
what can drugs such as beta blockers cause?
sinus bradycardia
what can cause a conduction block?
- problems at AVN or bundle of His
2. slow conduction at AVN due to extrinsic factors (drugs)
what can conduction block cause?
bradycardia
what are delayed afterdepolarisations?
depolarisation of cardiomyocytes during phase 4, before another action potential would normally occur
what causes delayed afterdepolarisations?
high intracellular Ca concentration
what are early afterdepolarisations?
deepolarisation of cardiomyocytes in phase 2 or 3 (plateau or repolarisation phases)
what can cause early afterdepolarisations?
prolonged action potential (longer QT interval)
what is the QT interval equal to?
the amount of time that ventricles are depolarised for
what is a re-entry loop?
electrical activation occurs via an abnormal circuit which loops back on itself
what are the requirements for establishing a re-entry loop?
- a circuit of tissue around which waves of depolarisation can travel
- an area within this circuit which allows conduction to only travel in one direction
- conduction is slow enough to allow distal myocytes to depolarise but fast enough to ensure distal myocytes are depolarised before the next normal beat
what causes atrial fibrillation?
multiple re-entrant loops, caused by damaged myocardium setting off ectopic foci
what is AV nodal re-entry?
two electrical pathways connect in the AVN and then travel back up one of the pathways, forming a re-entrant loop
what does AV nodal reentry cause?
AV nodal reentry tachycardia
what is ventricular pre-excitation?
an accessory pathway is present between the atria and ventricles, allowing conduction to by-pass the AVN
what is Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome?
heart condition in which there is an accessory pathway between the atria and ventricles, by-passing the AVN, causing ventricular pre-excitation
what are the four basic classes of anti-arrhythmic drugs?
- Drugs that block voltage-sensitive sodium channels
- Antagonists of β-adrenoreceptors
- Drugs that block potassium channels
- Drugs that block calcium channels
describe how drugs that block voltage-dependant Na channels work to reduce arrhythmias
block voltage-gated Na channels in the open or inactive state, therefore blocking depolarised tissue
how do drugs which block Na channels act on normal cardiac tissue?
little effect on normal cardiac tissue because the drug dissociates rapidly from normal cells