Fluke Biomedical ProSim 6 - Manual (Page 102)

ProSim™ 6/8
Users Manual
A-8
Trigeminy
A PVC appears after every two normal QRS complexes.
Venous
(1) Of or pertaining to a vein or veins. (2) Returning to the heart through the great veins.
Ventricle
A small anatomical cavity or chamber, as of the brain or heart, especially (1) the chamber
on the left side of the heart that receives arterial blood from the left atrium and contracts
to drive it into the aorta, and (2) the chamber on the right side of the heart that receives
venous blood from the right atrium and drives it into the pulmonary artery.
Ventricular Fibrillation
An irregular ventricular waveform, coarse or fine. Coarse and fine ventricular fibrillations
occur when the electrical signals in the ventricles are chaotic, and multiple, ectopic,
ventricular pacemakers are firing erratically. There are no real P waves and no clear R-R
interval. Ventricular fibrillation waveforms are irregularly shaped. Ventricular fibrillation
is a life-threatening condition; usually in such situations a defibrillator is applied
immediately to return the heart to its normal rhythm.
Ventricular Tachycardia
A faster-than-normal rhythm of beats (160 BPM) originating in the ventricles, similar to
type-1 (left-focus) PVCs. Ventricular tachycardia is a life-threatening arrhythmia in
which one or multiple, ectopic, ventricular pacemakers in the bundle branches, Purkinje
network, or ventricular myocardium are firing in a heart beating more frequently than 110
times a minute. In some cases the heart will be beating at a rate above 240 BPM.
Ventricular tachycardia usually occurs in cases of extreme cardiac disease and often
initiates or degenerates into ventricular fibrillation. This type of tachycardia can reduce
cardiac output by as much as 25 % due, in many cases, to the lack of an atrial “kick” and
therefore the lack of a complete filling of the ventricles with blood prior to ventricle
contraction.
Volt
The International System unit of electric potential and electromotive force, equal to the
difference of electric potential between two points on a conducting wire carrying a
constant current of one ampere when the power dissipated between the points is one watt.
Waveform
(1) The mathematical representation of a wave, especially a graph of deviation at a fixed
point (baseline) versus time. (2) On an ECG tracing or output, the size, shape, and
distance (in milliseconds) of a P-QRS-T complex.
Wavelength
In a periodic wave, the distance between two points of corresponding phase in
consecutive cycles.