Atrioventricular (AV) Blocks
First Degree AV Block - "If your R is far from your P than you have a first degree"
• 1:1 conduction with prolonged PR interval (>200 msec)
• P wave preceding each QRS complex
• Site of Block: Delayed conduction at the AV node
Second Degree AV Block - Mobitz Type 1 (Weinckebach) - "Longer, longer, longer DROP, now you have a Weinckebach"
• Less than 1:1 AV conduction with progressively prolonged PR intervals until a P wave (ventricular complex) is dropped
• Site of Block: Slowed conduction at the AV node
Second Degree AV Block - Mobitz Type 2 "If some P's don't get through, not you have a Mobitz Type 2"
• Intermittently dropped QRS in a random fashion with progressive PR lengthening
• Site of Block: Slowed conduction below AV node (His bundle or Purkinje Fibers)
Third Degree AV Block - "If your P's and Q's don't agree, then you have a Third Degree"
• Complete Heart Block
• AV conduction is completely absent, P waves fail to conduct to the ventricles
• Ventricle beats independently of the atria leading to AV node dissociation and the rate is set at the site of conduction block
• Site of Block: Any location in AV conducting system (AV node, His Bundle, trifasicular)
Ashley & Brooke Barlow PharmD @theABofPharmaC
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