Types of Dysrhythmias

You can get a rapid heart rate because there is an extra pathway between the heart's upper and lower chambers. It's just like if there was an extra road on your way home as well as your usual route, so cars can move around faster. When that happens in your heart, it can cause a fast heart rhythm, which doctors call tachycardia.

Atrial dysrhythmias that cause the loss of the atrial kick include atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation. Figure 1 illustrates types of atrial dysrhythmias in Lead II. Sinus bradycardia, a heart rate less than 60 beats per minute, has a rhythm that is regular, with the electrical impulse originating in the sinoatrial (SA) node.

AV nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT), or atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia, is a type of abnormal fast heart rhythm. It is a type of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), meaning that it originates from a location within the heart above the bundle of His. AV nodal reentrant tachycardia is the most common regular supraventricular tachycardia.

Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is an abnormally fast heart rhythm arising from improper electrical activity in the upper part of the heart. There are four main types: atrial fibrillation, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), atrial flutter, and Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome.

Atrial premature complexes (APCs) are a common kind of heart arrhythmia characterized by premature heartbeats originating in the atria. Another name for atrial premature complexes is premature atrial contractions.

PVCs can be distinguished from premature atrial contractions because the compensatory pause is longer following premature ventricular contractions, in addition to a difference in QRS appearance. In some people, PVCs occur in a predictable pattern (either for long periods or persistently).

If you watch medical dramas, you may have heard TV doctors say someone is in ‘V-tach.” That is the simple and quick way of saying “ventricular tachycardia.” The word “ventricular” refers to your heart’s lower chambers. Tachycardia is the medical term for a fast heart rate.