Cardiac action potential to fail, then the heart could continue to beat, albeit at a lower rate (AVN= 40-60 beats per minute, purkinje fibres = 20-40 beats per minute). These pacemakers will keep a patient alive until the emergency team arrives. An example of premature ventricular contraction, is the classic athletic heart syndrome. Sustained training of athletes causes a cardiac adaptation where the resting SAN rate is lower (sometimes around 40 beats per minute). This can lead to atrioventricular block, where the signal from the SAN is impaired in its path to the ventricles. This leads to uncoordinated contractions between the atria and
Heart rate turbulence the heart. Especially after a heart attack, sympathetic nervous activity tends to be increased. A healthy HRT indicates the presence of a healthy amount of parasympathetic activity, countering sympathetic activity. To take a wider view, however, it may be that a healthy HRT is also an indication of a healthy brain, and is the reason small HRT also predicts a likelihood of death from non- cardiac causes as well as from cardiac causes. Heart rate turbulence Heart rate turbulence (HRT) is the return to equilibrium of heart rate after a premature ventricular contraction (PVC). It consists of a brief speed-up