Premature Ventricular Complexes (PVC's) - Ventricular Rhythms.

Description 1

• PVC’s may occur for a number of different reasons i.e., diet, fatigue, stress, disease, ischemia to name a few.
• Premature complexes frequently occur in bradycardic rhythms, but may occur almost any time.
• PVC’s occur when an early electrical impulse occurs from a location in either ventricle.

Description 2

• This early impulse causes an early cardiac complex which disrupts the underlying rhythm.
• The locus of stimulation being different, results in a change in the morphology of the cardiac complex.
• Note the absence of P wave and the wide, bizarre QRS complex.
• PVC’s can occur occasionally or frequently.
• PVC’s can be observed with or without a pattern

Practice Strip

Analyze this tracing using the five steps of rhythm analysis.

Show Answer

• Rhythm: Irregular
• Rate: 60
• P Wave: upright and uniform, absent on early complex
• PR interval: 0.16 sec
• QRS: 0.08 sec, early complex wide and bizarre 0.16 sec
• Interpretation: Sinus Rhythm with PVC