Week 5 Flashcards
(158 cards)
What is an ECG?
Electrocardiogram
Test to check rhythm and electrical activity of heart
What is a cardiac impulse?
the wave of cardiac excitation passing from the sinoatrial node to the atrioventricular node and along the bundle of His and initiating the cardiac cycle broadly
What are the parts of the cardiac conduction system?
SA node, AV node, bundle of His, bundle branches, and Purkinje fibers
Describe cardiac conduction system
Signal from sinoatrial node moves slowly to Atrioventricular node as ventricles begin to fill
From there signal moves through bundle of His, bundle branches, to Purkinje fibers which stimulate ventricles for ejection
Outline the properties of the ECG paper (speed, square size)
Speed: 25 mm/s
Large squares: .2 second, .5 mV
Small squares: .04 second, 0.1mV
What is positive/negative deflection?
Positive - energy coming towards the lead
Negative - energy travelling away from the lead
How many electrodes do you use for the ECG?
10
Leads are a misnomer (often called 12 lead ECG) - leads are not the cables, but the line between where you put the electrodeand where you are looking for
Describe Einthoven’s triangle
Right arm, left arm, left leg
aVR, aaVL, aVF
What is a chest lead vs limb lead?
Chest leads look at heart on horizontal transverse plane
Limb leads look at heart on coronal plane
What is the P wave? How long should it last? Where should it be positive (1) / negative (1) on ECG?
First positive deflection
Atrial depolarisation
Should no be more than 0.12 seconds
Positive in lead II (negative in AVR)
What is the T wave? What can changes indicate?
Rapid phase of ventricular repolarisation
Peaked or flattened can reflect changes in potassium, metabolic process
What is your QRS complex related to?
Ventricular depolarisation
If larger than 0.12 suggests defect in intraventricular conduction
Direction determine ‘electrical axis’
What is the PR interval?
Represents time for transmission of signal from atria to ventricles through AV node
0.12-.20 second duration (3-5 small squares)
What is the electrical axis? What is normal?
Direction of the mean vector of the wave of ventricular depolarisation in the limb leads
Lead 1 is arbitrarily defined as 0 degrees
Normal axis between -30 and +90 degrees
Define abnormal electrical axis readings
beyond -30 = left axis deviation
beyond 90 = right axis deviation
What is the ST segment?
In isoelectric line between QRS and T wave
Plateau phase of repolarisation
Should not deviate above/below isoelectric line by more than 1mm
Deviation = likely damage
STEMI!
What is the QT interval?
Measures polarisation process
Prolonged (>440ms in men, >460ms women)
Prolonged due to inherited conditions, drugs
Prolonged can cause arrhythmia
What is the structure for reading ECGs? (5)
Name / age of patient / current condition
Check heart rate
Check rhythm is regular (are R waves coming regularly)
P wave - duration and shape
T wave - should be positive in I, II, aVL, aVF, V2-6
How to check heart rate on ECG?
1 large square = 300 bpm
count number of squares between R waves (300 divided by this number)
What are the criteria for sinus rhythm? (3)
Positive 1, 2, aVF AND
Negative aVR AND
Each QRS preceded by P
What is left ventricle hypertrophy? How can you see it on ECG?
enlargement and thickening (hypertrophy) of the walls of your heart’s main pumping chamber (left ventricle)
Large QRS complex - various systems to add up
What are the changes on ECG during myocardial infarction?
ST elevation during STEMI
Maybe no changes during non-STEMI (or slight T inversion)
Pathological Q waves are long term effect
What are the clinical signs of shock?
Pale, sweaty, dizzy, cold/clammy skin
What is blood pressure? What maintains it? (4)
Pressure exerted by the circulating blood against the walls of the arteries Maintained by: 1. contraction of left ventricle 2. resistance of small blood vessels 3. elasticity of arterial walls 4. volume / viscosity of blood