Heart Rhythm

Heart Rhythm

The heart rhythm can be regular or irregular.
Irregular rhythms can be either:

•      Regularly irregular (i.e. a recurrent pattern of irregularity)
•      Irregularly irregular (i.e. completely disorganised)

Mark out several consecutive R-R intervals on a piece of paper, then move them along the
rhythm strip to check if the subsequent intervals are the same.

Hint – if you are suspicious that there is some atrioventricular block, map out the atrial rate
and the ventricular rhythm separately (i.e. mark the P waves and R waves). As you move
along the rhythm strip, you can then see if the PR interval changes, if QRS complexes are
missing or if there is complete dissociation between the two.