NR 283 Unit 4 Discussion Topic – Bradycarda, tachycardia, sinus dysrhythmia, premature contractions, and ventricular fibrillation
Briefly describe the
... [Show More] following: bradycarda, tachycardia, sinus dysrhythmia, premature contractions, and ventricular fibrillation.
Answer
I can say I was personally prepared to go into this week for Cardiology as last week I had a personal cardiology lesson with my own health. So, bradycardia, tachycardia, sinus dysrhythmia, premature contractions, and ventricular fibrillation are some of the irregular heart rhythms that can occur.
Bradycardia is when the heart is beating too slowly (typically less than 60 beats per minute). Bradycardia happens when there is an issue with the electrical impulse of the heart that signals it to contract. There is an impulse that is sent from the SA node (the pacemaker) to the ventricles to tell the heart how fast is should beat. Then there is an error in this impulse it can cause the heart to beat too slowly (bradycardia) (Categories, 2016).
Tachycardia is when the heart beats too quickly (typically more than 100 beats per minute). There are two forms of tachycardia and are named so based on where the increased heart rate originates. If its starts in the ventricles it is called ventricular tachycardia and if it starts above the ventricles is it called supraventricular tachycardia.
Sinus dysrhythmia can be a normal rhythm, but rather than having a steady rate, the rate varies by more than ten beats per minute (Equimed, 2010).
Premature ventricular contractions (PVC) are a ventricular arrhythmia that happens when the ventricles contract too soon (prematurely and before it should), out of sequence with the normal heartbeat. These are common in response to caffeine intake because of this "PVCs are one of the two most common heart rhythm abnormalities" (Equimed, 2010).
Ventricular fibrillation happens in the ventricles and like a PVC is a misplaced beat, but instead of one misplaced beat from the ventricles, you may have several impulses that begin at the same time from different locations. Ventricular fibrillation is the most serious arrhythmia. The result is no cardiac output (blood flow) and no blood pressure. Immediate emergency medical attention is required (Categories, 2016).
Categories of Arrhythmias - Texas Heart Institute Heart Information Center. (2016, August). Retrieved September 17, 2016, from http://www.texasheart.org/HIC/Topics/Cond/arrhycat.cfm
EquiMed (Ed.). (2010, June). Sinus Dysrhythmia Heart Rhythms EquiMed Corporation. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from https://www.equimedcorp.com/rhythms/topic/32/ [Show Less]