Premature Atrial Complex ECG Interpretation #312


Intro to PACs

  • PACs can 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.
  • PACs occur when an early electrical impulse occurs from a location in the atria other than the SA node.

Intro to PACs 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 P wave.
  • PACs can occur occasionally or frequently.
  • PACs ECG can be observed with or without a pattern
  • The P wave with PAC's will always be upright

ECG Analysis

pacs ecg image

Notice the following: the R to R interval is irregular, the fifth complex is early and the P wave on the early complex is a different shape.

ECG Practice Strip

atrial ecg image 2

Analyze this tracing using the five steps of rhythm analysis.

Show Answer
  • Rhythm: Irregular
  • Rate: 50
  • P wave: Upright & uniform (except early complexes - biphasic)
  • PR interval: 0.16 second
  • QRS: 0.08
  • Interpretation: Sinus Bradycardia with PACs





Authors and Sources

Authors and Reviewers


Sources




Electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG) ECG Interpretation
Heart Sounds Heart Sounds
Lung Sounds Lung Sounds
Blood Pressure Blood Pressure
multimedia lessons Medical Terms
Ultrasound image Ultrasound
Electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG) EKG Rhythms
Pulmonary Problem-Solving Respiratory Care
multimedia lessons Basic ECG Monitor
Adv. ECG Monitor
Pulmonary Hypertension course image Fundamentals
Lung Sounds Key Lung Sounds
Pediatric referral image Pediatric Referral
Carotid Artery Bruit Carotid Bruit
Pulmonary Hypertension course image Pulmon. Hypertension
Abdominal Sounds Abdominal Sounds
Auscultation Training by Repetition Repetition Drill
auscultation guide torso

Reference Guide
multimedia lessons Free Resources
? v:9 | onAr:0 | onPs:2 | tLb:0 | pv:1
uStat: False | db:0 | cc: US
| cDbLookup # 0 | pu: False | pl: System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
em: | newuser: False | cc: US | showD? False





This website provides professional medical education. For medical care contact your doctor. 2024 ©MedEdu LLC. All Rights Reserved. Terms & Conditions | About Us | Privacy | Email Us | 1 | n 10

  • mededu company logo
  • facebook like
  • twitter like
  • linkedin like
  • email share
An error has occurred. This application may no longer respond until reloaded. Reload 🗙