Effective Refractory Period

myocardial action potential

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

During a cardiac cycle, once an action potential is initiated, there is a period of time that a new action potential cannot be initiated. This is termed the effective refractory period (ERP) or the absolute refractory period (ARP) of the cell.

During this period depolarization on adjacent cardiac muscles does not produce a new depolarization in the current cell as it has to refract back to phase 4 of the action potential before a new action potential can activate it. ERP acts a s a protective mechanism and keeps the heart rate in check and prevents arrhythmias and coordinates muscle contraction