The EKG strip shows a regular rhythm at 40 bpm. I said it was bradycardia, but the answer key says it is a junctional rhythm. What is the difference? Can these two words be used interchangeably?
Thanks!
Thanks!
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No, they aren't interchangeable.
The impulse for a beat in a junctional rhythm originates in the region of the AV node, give or take a bit. It's normally at about 45 BPM, so a junctional rhythm is usually but not always slow. There are junctional tachycardias, though.
Bradycardia means the rate is slow, as in the case of your junctional rhythm strip. But slow rhythms can propagate from other areas, as well: sinus bradycardia is fairly common, for instance.
You did well to recognize the slow rate. You'd have done better had you gone on to the next step, to see if there were regular P waves, and what their relationship is to the R waves.
The impulse for a beat in a junctional rhythm originates in the region of the AV node, give or take a bit. It's normally at about 45 BPM, so a junctional rhythm is usually but not always slow. There are junctional tachycardias, though.
Bradycardia means the rate is slow, as in the case of your junctional rhythm strip. But slow rhythms can propagate from other areas, as well: sinus bradycardia is fairly common, for instance.
You did well to recognize the slow rate. You'd have done better had you gone on to the next step, to see if there were regular P waves, and what their relationship is to the R waves.
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Bradycardia just describes the rate. Junctional describes the origin of the rate and can be fast or slow. Look for the P waves.