Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Composed of
• P wave
• Caused by electrical potentials
generated when atria depolarize
before atria contraction begins
• QRS complex
• Three separate waves, the Q
wave, R wave and S wave
• Step 1:
• Is the Rhythm Regular or Irregular?
• If the intervals between QRS complexes (R-R intervals) are consistent,
ventricular rhythm is regular.
• If the intervals between the P waves (P-P intervals) are consistent,
atrial rhythm is regular.
• Are all the QRS complexes similar, and are they narrow?
• The duration of the QRS complex should not exceed 0.10 seconds (2
1/2squares).
• A widened complex indicates that ventricular depolarization is being
initiated by pacemaker tissue below the AV node e.g. ventricular paced
rhythm (one ventricle depolarizes first and the current must spread into
the other ventricle, taking more time than when both ventricles
depolarize simultaneously).
• The ECG’s are recorded with one electrode on the anterior chest
surface directly over the heart and connected to the +ve terminal
of the ECG.
• -ve terminal (called the indifferent electrode) is connected to the right
arm, left arm, and left leg all at the same time.
• Usually, six standard chest leads are recorded, each at a time, from
the anterior chest wall, the chest electrode being placed sequentially
at the six points shown in the diagram.
• Premature beats, are heart beats that originate in the atria or the
ventricles, they are the most common causes of cardiac arrhythmia.
• They occur in individuals with normal hearts as well as in patients
with heart disease of lesser or greater severity.