Heart Vocab

Question 1

Artificial Pacemaker

Answer 1

An artificial cardiac pacemaker is a medical device, nowadays always implanted, that generates electrical pulses delivered by electrodes to one or more of the chambers of the heart, the upper atria or lower ventricles.

Question 2

atrial fibrillation

Answer 2

an irregular and often very rapid heart rhythm

Question 3

autonomic nervous system

Answer 3

a component of the peripheral nervous system that regulates involuntary physiologic processes including heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, digestion, and sexual arousal

Question 4

AV Node

Answer 4

a small structure in the heart, located in the Koch triangle, near the coronary sinus on the inter-atrial septum

Question 5

Bradycardia

Answer 5

a slower than normal heart rate

Question 6

bundle branches

Answer 6

a part of the electrical system of the heart

Question 7

Bundle of his

Answer 7

an elongated segment connecting the AV Node and the left and right bundle branches of the septal crest

Question 8

ectopic focus

Answer 8

abnormal pacemaker sites within the heart (outside of the SA node) that display automaticity

Question 9

electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)

Answer 9

records the electrical signal from the heart to check for different heart conditions

Question 10

normal sinus rhythm

Answer 10

the rhythm that originates from the sinus node and describes the characteristic rhythm of the healthy human heart.

Question 11

purkinje fibers

Answer 11

specialized cardiac muscle cells that conduct electrical impulses that allow coordinated contraction of cardiac muscle

Question 12

sinoatrial node

Answer 12

a small body of specialized muscle fibers, located in the right atrium of the heart, whose activity is responsible for initiating the heartbeat

Question 13

Tachycardia

Answer 13

a heart rate that’s faster than normal, or more than 100 beats per minute at rest