Glossary 3

2. The amount of blood pumped by the left ventricle in one minute; it is calculated by multiplying the stroke volume by the heart rate and is measured in liters per minute.
3. A heart rate less than 60 bpm.
4. Bundle branch block.
7. The act of standardizing the graphic display of electrical activity; the calibration mark should measure 1 millivolt on the graph paper.
11. The isoelectric line; the line on EKG graph paper that indicates lack of electrical activity and from which all other cardiac wave impulses deviate.
14. The cessation of cardiac function, resulting in sudden drop in perfusion and resultant clinical death.
16. The second phase of death, following clinical death; defined by brain death, usually following 4–6 minutes of cardiac arrest if no resuscitation is instituted.
17. The portion of the cardiac conduction system within the ventricles that conducts impulses from the Bundle of His to the Purkinje fibers; consists of right and left bundle branches.
18. A defect in conduction within the heart’s electrical system.
19. A single EKG wave that has two deflections, one upright and the other inverted. Bipolar Lead: A lead composed of one positive and one negative electrode.

1. Any cardiac arrhythmia with a rate below 60 bpm.
5. That part of the cardiac conduction system that conducts impulses from the AV Junction through to the bundle branches.
6. The act of responding to an electrical stimulus with depolarization; generally refers to an arrhythmia’s response to an artificial pacemaker.
8. Shift in mean QRS axis reflecting myocardial damage, enlargement, or conduction defect.
9. A pattern of cardiac electrical activity in which every other beat is an ectopic, usually a PVC.
10. The upper end of the heart.
12. Cycle The interval from the beginning of one heartbeat to the beginning of the next; on the EKG it encompasses the PQRST complex.
13. Coronary artery disease.
15. A single loading dose of a drug; used to achieve a rapid high therapeutic blood level prior to instituting IV drip therapy.
16. A conduction disturbance that prevents or delays passage of impulses from the Bundle of His through to the Purkinje network; can involve the right or left bundle branch or, less frequently, both.
17. Beats per minute.