Sign Up
Table of Contents
- Course Home
- Objectives
- Matching Exercise
- Introduction
- Anatomy: The Heart
- Anatomy: The Vessels
- Physiology: Introduction
- Physiology: Review of Circulation
- Physiology: The Cardiac Cycle
- Physiology: Innervation of the Heart
- Cardiac Electrophysiology: Introduction
- Cardiac Electrophysiology: Electrolytes
- Cardiac Electrophysiology: The Cardiac Conduction System
- Sample Cases
- Case 1: Cardiac Tamponade
- Figure 1: Assessment
- Figure 2: Management
- Case 2: Cocaine Overdose
- Figure 3: Assessment
- Figure 4: Management
- Case 3: Hemorrhagic Shock
- Figure 5: Assessment
- Figure 6: Management
- Conclusion
- References
- Bibliography
Cardiac Electrophysiology: Electrolytes
Introduction:
The spontaneous generation of cardiac electrical signals, as well as their propagation, is due to alterations in electrolyte concentrations. The major electrolytes that are involved in this process include: Sodium, Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, and Chloride.
Sodium:
Sodium plays a vital role in automaticity, which is a property characterized by the heart’s ability to generate spontaneous, repetitive contraction stimuli.
Calcium:
Calcium is also essential for automaticity and, in addition, plays a vital role in cardiac contractions.
Potassium:
Potassium’s role in the heart is to reset the repetitive firing system so that it can quickly become active after each electrical stimulus it generates.
Magnesium and Chloride:
The roles of Magnesium and Chloride are unclear, but low levels of these electrolytes impair the replacement and functioning of Sodium, Calcium, and Potassium, thus altering overall heart activity.