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Last updated: 11/24/2009
When the heart is operating normally, each part contracts in a specific order. Contraction of the muscle is triggered by an electrical impulse. These electrical impulses travel through specialized cells that form a conduction system. Following this...
pathway ensures that contractions will occur in a coordinated manner.
When the presence of all waves is observed in the electrocardiogram, and these waves follow the order defined alphabetically, the heart is said to show a normal sinus rhythm, and impulses may be assumed to be following the regular conduction pathway.
In the normal heart, electrical impulses—at a rate of 60–100 times per minute—originate in the sinus node. The sinus node is located in the first chamber of the heart, known as the right atrium, where blood reenters the heart after circulating through the body. After traveling down to the junction between the upper and lower chambers, the signal stimulates the atrioventricular node. From here, after a delay, it passes by specialized routes through the lower chambers or ventricles. In many disease states, the passage of the electrical impulse can be interrupted in a variety of ways, causing the heart to perform less efficiently.
The heart is described as showing arrhythmia or dysrhythmia when time intervals between waves, or the order or the number of waves do not fit the normal pattern described above. Other features that may be altered include the direction of wave deflection and wave widths.
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This narrated animation shows how blood flows through the various chambers of the heart and the electric system that controls the heart muscle's pumping action.
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An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is a recording of the electrical activity of the heart over time produced by an electrocardiograph, usually in a noninvasive recording via skin electrodes. Its name is made of different parts: electro, because it is related to electrical activity, cardio, Greek for heart, gram, a Greek root meaning "to write". In the US, the abbreviation "EKG" , (abbreviated from the German Elektrokardiogramm) is often preferred over "ECG", while "ECG" is used universally in the UK and many other countries. It is preferred as "EKG" in the US because doctor's handwriting of "ECG" can often be confused as "EEG" when transcribing orders or with echocardiography which is also abbreviated "ECG".
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We are trying to balance those kinds of losses with the profitable side of business, which includes doing more cardiac surgeries. An emphasis has been placed on cardiac care because the medium age of residents is increasing, and more people are showing up with symptoms of heart disease.
-Kevin M. Spiegel
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