Ectopic atrial rhythm
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Associate Editor-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
Electrocardiogram
- There is a different P wave morphology than in Normal Sinus Rhythm (NSR)
- The sinus rate is < 100 beats per minute
- The rhythm is called an accelerated atrial rhythm when the rate is faster than the patient's own NSR but < 100 beats per minute.
Ectopic Atrial Rhythm EKG Examples
Shown below is an EKG image of ectopic atrial rhythm. In this example, the sinus node stopped pacing due to ischemia during an atrial infarction. The p-wave is positive in I, negative in III and AVF. The atrial pacemaker is thus situated at the bottom of the right atrium, close to the AV node.
Sources
Copyleft images obtained courtesy of ECGpedia, http://en.ecgpedia.org/index.php?title=Special:NewFiles&offset=&limit=500
References
- Hammill S. C. Electrocardiographic diagnoses: Criteria and definitions of abnormalities, Chapter 18, MAYO Clinic, Concise Textbook of Cardiology, 3rd edition, 2007 ISBN 0-8493-9057-5
Additional resources
- ECGpedia: Course for interpretation of ECG
- The whole ECG - A basic ECG primer
- 12-lead ECG library
- Simulation tool to demonstrate and study the relation between the electric activity of the heart and the ECG
- ECG information from Children's Hospital Heart Center, Seattle
- ECG Challenge from the ACC D2B Initiative
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Diseases and Conditions Index
- A history of electrocardiography
- EKG Interpretations in infants and children
Examples