Concealed conduction
This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (February 2009) |
Regarding cardiology and conduction characteristics-
Tissue stimulation without direct effect (such as causing contraction in another chamber), but leading to a change in conduction characteristics.
A common example would be an interpolated PVC (a type of premature ventricular contraction) during normal sinus rhythm; the PVC does not cause an atrial contraction, because the retrograde impulse from the PVC does not completely penetrate the AV node. However, this AV node stimulation (which is not visible on EKG by itself, hence "concealed") can cause a delay in subsequent AV conduction by modifying the AV node's subsequent conduction characteristics. Hence, the P-R interval after the PVC is longer than the baseline P-R interval.
Another variation on this concept is seen in atrial flutter. As a result of the rapid atrial rate, some of the atrial activity fails to get through the AV node in an antegrade direction but can alter the rate at which a subsequent atrial impulse is conducted. In this circumstance, an alteration in the F-wave to QRS relationship is seen.
See also
 |
This medical sign article is a stub. You can help ssf by expanding it. |
