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Sinoatrial Arrest
Sinoatrial arrest is a medical condition wherein the sinoatrial node of the heart transiently ceases to generate the electrical impulses that normally stimulate the myocardial tissues to contract and thus the heart to beat. It is defined as lasting from 2.0 seconds to several minutes. Since the heart contains multiple pacemakers, this interruption of the cardiac cycle generally lasts only a few seconds before another part of the heart, such as the atrio-ventricular junction or the ventricles, begins pacing and restores the heart action. This condition can be detected on an electrocardiogram (ECG) as a brief period of irregular length with no electrical activity before either the sinoatrial node resumes normal pacing, or another pacemaker begins pacing. If a pacemaker other than the sinoatrial node is pacing the heart, this condition is known as an escape rhythm. If no other pacemaker begins pacing during an episode of sinus arrest it becomes a cardiac arrest. This condition i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinoatrial Node
The sinoatrial node (also known as the sinuatrial node, SA node or sinus node) is an oval shaped region of special cardiac muscle in the upper back wall of the right atrium made up of cells known as pacemaker cells. The sinus node is approximately fifteen mm long, three mm wide, and one mm thick, located directly below and to the side of the superior vena cava. These cells can produce an electrical impulse an action potential known as a cardiac action potential that travels through the electrical conduction system of the heart, causing it to contract. In a healthy heart, the SA node continuously produces action potentials, setting the rhythm of the heart (sinus rhythm), and so is known as the heart's natural pacemaker. The rate of action potentials produced (and therefore the heart rate) is influenced by the nerves that supply it. Structure The sinoatrial node is a oval-shaped structure that is approximately fifteen mm long, three mm wide, and one mm thick, located directly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atrium (heart)
The atrium ( la, ātrium, , entry hall) is one of two upper chambers in the heart that receives blood from the circulatory system. The blood in the atria is pumped into the heart ventricles through the atrioventricular valves. There are two atria in the human heart – the left atrium receives blood from the pulmonary circulation, and the right atrium receives blood from the venae cavae of the systemic circulation. During the cardiac cycle the atria receive blood while relaxed in diastole, then contract in systole to move blood to the ventricles. Each atrium is roughly cube-shaped except for an ear-shaped projection called an atrial appendage, sometimes known as an auricle. All animals with a closed circulatory system have at least one atrium. The atrium was formerly called the 'auricle'. That term is still used to describe this chamber in some other animals, such as the ''Mollusca''. They have thicker muscular walls than the atria do. Structure Humans have a four-chambered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calcium Channel Blocker
Calcium channel blockers (CCB), calcium channel antagonists or calcium antagonists are a group of medications that disrupt the movement of calcium () through calcium channels. Calcium channel blockers are used as antihypertensive drugs, i.e., as medications to decrease blood pressure in patients with hypertension. CCBs are particularly effective against large vessel stiffness, one of the common causes of elevated systolic blood pressure in elderly patients. Calcium channel blockers are also frequently used to alter heart rate (especially from atrial fibrillation), to prevent peripheral and cerebral vasospasm, and to reduce chest pain caused by angina pectoris. N-type, L-type, and T-type voltage-dependent calcium channels are present in the zona glomerulosa of the human adrenal gland, and CCBs can directly influence the biosynthesis of aldosterone in adrenocortical cells, with consequent impact on the clinical treatment of hypertension with these agents. CCBs have b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beta Blocker
Beta blockers, also spelled β-blockers, are a class of medications that are predominantly used to manage cardiac arrhythmia, abnormal heart rhythms, and to protect the heart from a second myocardial infarction, heart attack after a first heart attack (preventative healthcare, secondary prevention). They are also widely used to treat hypertension, high blood pressure, although they are no longer the first choice for initial treatment of most patients. Beta blockers are competitive antagonists that block the receptor sites for the endogenous catecholamines Adrenaline, epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) on beta receptor, adrenergic beta receptors, of the sympathetic nervous system, which mediates the fight-or-flight response. Some block activation of all types of β-adrenergic receptors and others are selective for one of the three known types of beta receptors, designated β1, β2 and β3 receptors. Beta-1 adrenergic receptor, β1-adrenergic receptors are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conduction System
The cardiac conduction system (CCS) (also called the electrical conduction system of the heart) transmits the signals generated by the sinoatrial node – the heart's pacemaker, to cause the heart muscle to contract, and pump blood through the body's circulatory system. The pacemaking signal travels through the right atrium to the atrioventricular node, along the bundle of His, and through the bundle branches to Purkinje fibers in the walls of the ventricles. The Purkinje fibers transmit the signals more rapidly to stimulate contraction of the ventricles. The conduction system consists of specialized heart muscle cells, situated within the myocardium. There is a skeleton of fibrous tissue that surrounds the conduction system which can be seen on an ECG. Dysfunction of the conduction system can cause irregular heart rhythms including rhythms that are too fast or too slow. Structure Electrical signals arising in the SA node (located in the right atrium) stimulate the at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ventricular Escape
In cardiology, a ventricular escape beat is a self-generated electrical discharge initiated by, and causing contraction of the ventricles of the heart; normally the heart rhythm is begun in the atria of the heart and is subsequently transmitted to the ventricles. The ventricular escape beat follows a long pause in ventricular rhythm and acts to prevent cardiac arrest. It indicates a failure of the electrical conduction system of the heart to stimulate the ventricles (which would lead to the absence of heartbeats, unless ventricular escape beats occur). Causes Ventricular escape beats occur when the rate of electrical discharge reaching the ventricles (normally initiated by the heart's sinoatrial node (SA node), transmitted to the atrioventricular node (AV node), and then further transmitted to the ventricles) falls below the base rate determined by the rate of Phase 4 spontaneous depolarisation of ventricular pacemaker cells. An escape beat usually occurs 2–3 seconds after an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
P Wave (electrocardiography)
The P wave on the ECG represents atrial depolarization, which results in atrial contraction, or atrial systole. Physiology The P wave is a summation wave generated by the depolarization front as it transits the atria. Normally the right atrium depolarizes slightly earlier than left atrium since the depolarization wave originates in the sinoatrial node, in the high right atrium and then travels to and through the left atrium. The depolarization front is carried through the atria along semi-specialized conduction pathways including Bachmann's bundle resulting in uniform shaped waves. Depolarization originating elsewhere in the atria (atrial ectopics) result in P waves with a different morphology from normal. Pathology Peaked P waves (> 0.25 mV) suggest right atrial enlargement, cor pulmonale, (''P pulmonale'' rhythm), but have a low predictive value (~20%). A P wave with increased amplitude can indicate hypokalemia. It can also indicate right atrial enlargement. A P wave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AV Node
The atrioventricular node or AV node electrically connects the heart's atria and ventricles to coordinate beating in the top of the heart; it is part of the electrical conduction system of the heart. The AV node lies at the lower back section of the interatrial septum near the opening of the coronary sinus, and conducts the normal electrical impulse from the atria to the ventricles. The AV node is quite compact (~1 x 3 x 5 mm).Full Size Picture triangle of-Koch.jpg Retrieved on 2008-12-22 Structure Location The AV node lies at the lower back section of the |
Junctional Escape
A junctional escape beat is a delayed heartbeat originating not from the atrium but from an ectopic focus somewhere in the atrioventricular junction. It occurs when the rate of depolarization of the sinoatrial node falls below the rate of the atrioventricular node. This dysrhythmia also may occur when the electrical impulses from the SA node fail to reach the AV node because of SA or AV block. It is a protective mechanism for the heart, to compensate for the SA node no longer handling the pacemaking activity, and is one of a series of backup sites that can take over pacemaker function when the SA node fails to do so. It can also occur following a premature ventricular contraction or blocked premature atrial contraction. Signs and symptoms Junctional rhythms (if a bradycardia) can cause decreased cardiac output. Therefore, the person may exhibit signs and symptoms similar to other bradycardia such as lightheadedness, dizziness, low blood pressure, and fainting. This rhythm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atrial Escape
The atrium ( la, ātrium, , entry hall) is one of two upper chambers in the heart that receives blood from the circulatory system. The blood in the atria is pumped into the heart ventricles through the atrioventricular valves. There are two atria in the human heart – the left atrium receives blood from the pulmonary circulation, and the right atrium receives blood from the venae cavae of the systemic circulation. During the cardiac cycle the atria receive blood while relaxed in diastole, then contract in systole to move blood to the ventricles. Each atrium is roughly cube-shaped except for an ear-shaped projection called an atrial appendage, sometimes known as an auricle. All animals with a closed circulatory system have at least one atrium. The atrium was formerly called the 'auricle'. That term is still used to describe this chamber in some other animals, such as the '' Mollusca''. They have thicker muscular walls than the atria do. Structure Humans have a four-chambere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to the lungs. In humans, the heart is approximately the size of a closed fist and is located between the lungs, in the middle compartment of the chest. In humans, other mammals, and birds, the heart is divided into four chambers: upper left and right atria and lower left and right ventricles. Commonly the right atrium and ventricle are referred together as the right heart and their left counterparts as the left heart. Fish, in contrast, have two chambers, an atrium and a ventricle, while most reptiles have three chambers. In a healthy heart blood flows one way through the heart due to heart valves, which prevent backflow. The heart is enclosed in a protective sac, the pericardium, which also contains a small amount of fluid. The wall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Differential Diagnosis
In healthcare, a differential diagnosis (abbreviated DDx) is a method of analysis of a patient's history and physical examination to arrive at the correct diagnosis. It involves distinguishing a particular disease or condition from others that present with similar clinical features. Differential diagnostic procedures are used by clinicians to diagnose the specific disease in a patient, or, at least, to consider any imminently life-threatening conditions. Often, each individual option of a possible disease is called a differential diagnosis (e.g., acute bronchitis could be a differential diagnosis in the evaluation of a cough, even if the final diagnosis is common cold). More generally, a differential diagnostic procedure is a systematic diagnostic method used to identify the presence of a disease entity where multiple alternatives are possible. This method may employ algorithms, akin to the process of elimination, or at least a process of obtaining information that shrinks the "p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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