ECG Leads and Basic Overview Flashcards
The resting ECG is normal in ___ -___% of patients who have CAD, but have not yet had an MI.
25-50%
What information does ECG monitoring give you?
-Cardiac Rate
-Cardiac Rhythm
-Oxygen Balance
What are indications for ECG monitoring?
-Diagnosis of arrhythmias, electrolyte imbalances & conduction defects
-Diagnosis of ischemia
-Pathologic Q Waves (previous MI)
Which leads are Einthoven’s Standard Limb Leads? (Bipolar leads)
I, II, and III
Which are Goldberger’s Augmented leads?
aVR, aVF, and aVL
Which are the Precordial (Chest) leads?
V1 - V6
How is Lead I constructed?
-By comparing the left arm (positive) to the right arm’s electrode
-Zero point is in the center of the lead
-Any current flowing left (toward the left arm’s electrode) will produce a positive deflection on the ECG, while any current flowing to the right produces a negative deflection.
-Gives us a very good view of what is going on from left to right in the heart, but a poor view of events moving up or down (perpendicular to the lead I axis).
What is different about the Augmented leads? (Unipolar)
Augmented signal from positive lead to get a better view of electrical signal.
-View the heart in the frontal plane.
-Has a single positive lead, and all others are averaged together as the negative lead.
-Augmented are unipolar leads with one lead serving as the positive and the other two leads serve as “indifferent” leads neither positive or negative. The two indifferent leads produce the vector for the augmented leads
What do the Precordial leads show? (Unipolar)
-Give an idea of the full functioning of the heart.
-Shows coronary views, frontal views, etc.
-Close to the heart, so don’t need augmentation
-Views the heart in the horizontal plane
-Has a single positive lead, and all others are averaged together as the negative lead.
What is positive/negative for Lead II?
-Left leg is positive
-Right arm is negative
What is positive/negative for Lead III?
-Left leg is positive
-Left arm is negative.
How do the augmented leads work?
-Devised as a way to increase the size of the signal (the heart’s electrical activity” and give us new views of the activity
-Use the same electrodes as you used for the standard limb leads
-For each of the augmented unipolar leads, two of the three electrodes we had used are tied together and brought to ground.
-The remaining electrode becomes the exploring or active lead.
-In the case of any unipolar lead, current flow heading towards the active (exploring) electrode produces a positive deflection, while current going away from the electrode produces a negative deflection.
What is the limitation associated with the augmented (unipolar) or standard limb leads?
-All look at the heart from the Coronal Plane
-In order to view the heart from another plane (the transverse or horizontal plane), the six chest leads came into use.
What is different about the Precordial/Chest Leads?
-Unipolar leads (so current moving towards the active electrode produces a positive deflection, away a negative deflection)
-Can get info about the anterior and posterior parts of the heart (as well as inferior and superior).
In the standard limb leads (I, II, and III), all waveforms should be?
Positively deflected (upright)
-Heart is depolarized from R to L
How does deflection vary within the Augmented Leads?
-aVR: all waveforms negative
-aVL: P and T are negative, but QRS is biphasic, (waveforms equally positive and negative)
-aVF: all waveforms are positive
How does deflection vary within the Precordial Leads?
-P and T positive
-QRS starts negative and ends positive.
-Important with Bundle Branch Blocks
-There should be normal R wave progression throughout precordial leads.
What leads are used in a 3 lead ECG?
-RA
-LA
-LLL
All are bipolar leads
How does a 5 lead ECG work?
-The augmented leads use the same leads as I,II, and III, but the negative is a composite.
How does a Standard 12 lead ECG work?
-Actually uses 10 cables
-Can see 12 views
What is a Derived 12 lead?
-Used in the OR
-Has 5 cables
-Depending on placement of leads, can get different views
-RA, RL, LA, LL, and V
-Moving the V lead gets you different views. Can get V1-V6.
Where should V1 be placed?
4th IC space right sternal border