Ventricular Rhythms Flashcards
Ventricular rhythms originate
In the ventricles
Asystole can be distinguished by
- Take a wild fucking guess
- May have occasional complexes that are too spaced out to perfuse or non-conducting P waves. In this case it is considered agonal
Ventricular rhythms have
Wide QRS complexes
What is the failsafe if the ventricle pacemakers don’t fire?
There is none :)
P waves in Ventricular rhythms may be
Retrograde or absent
What signs presence separates a ventricular rhythm from an aberrant one
Josephson’s sign and Brugada’s sign
Josephson’s sign
A notch in the downstroke of the S wave
Brugada’s sign
A distance of 0.10 or more seconds from the onset of the QRS to the bottom of the S wave
If neither Josephson’s or Brugada’s sign is present does that mean the rhythm must be aberrant, not Ventricular?
No. Absence of these signs does not mean the rhythm is not
ventricular, however, presence means it is
A premature ventricular contraction can be distinguished by
-An early beat with a ventricular morphology (QRS greater than 0.12)
PVCs may be monomorphic or
polymorphic
A bigeminy of PVCs appears as
A PVC every 2nd beat
A Trigeminy of PVCs appears as
A PVC every 3rd beat
A Quadgeminy of PVCs appears as
A PVC every 4th beat
A couplet of PVCs is
2 PVCs in a row
A triplet of PVCs is
3 PVCs in a row
An interpolated PVC occurs
Between otherwise steady sinus complexes
Etiology of PVCs
- Idiopathic and benign
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Drugs: nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, etc.
- Hypertrophy and cardiomyopathies
- Heart disease
- Electrolyte disorders
A ventricular escape beat is
A ventricular complex that occurs after the timing of the regular complex
How many PVCs create a run of V-Tach?
more than 3
An idioventricular rhythm is defined by
-Regular rhythm
-20-40 BPM
-Wide QRS complexes
An accelerated idioventricular rhythm is defined by
-Regular rhythm
-More than 40 BPM
-Wide QRS complexes
Should you try to fix an idioventricular rhythm in a stable patient?
No, it is the last guard against asystole
What is a capture beat
A normal appearing QRS complex that breaks the ventricular rhythm. Caused by the SA node capturing a beat.
