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Third degree AV block classification

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sara Zand, M.D.[2] Soroush Seifirad, M.D.[3] Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [4] Qasim Khurshid, M.B.B.S [4]

Overview

Overview

Third-degree or complete atrioventricular block suggests no conduction at all from atria to ventricles and may be paroxysmal or persistent and is usually associated with either a junctional or ventricular escape rhythm. Complete atrioventricular block may be identified in the setting of atrial fibrillation when the ventricular response is slow (<50 bpm) and regular. However, junctional rhythm in the setting of atrioventricular block may be present.

Classification

Classification

[1]

Term Classification Definition
Atrioventricular block First-degree atrioventricular block
Second-degree AV block
  • P waves with a constant rate (<100 bpm)
  • Presence of periodic single non conducted P wave associated with P waves before and after the non conducted P wave with inconstant PR intervals
  • Presence of P waves with a constant rate (< 100 bpm) with a periodic single non conducted P wave associated with other P waves before and after the non conducted P wave with constant PR intervals (excluding 2:1 atrioventricular block)
Third-degree AV block (complete heart block)
References

References

  1. Kusumoto, Fred M.; Schoenfeld, Mark H.; Barrett, Coletta; Edgerton, James R.; Ellenbogen, Kenneth A.; Gold, Michael R.; Goldschlager, Nora F.; Hamilton, Robert M.; Joglar, José A.; Kim, Robert J.; Lee, Richard; Marine, Joseph E.; McLeod, Christopher J.; Oken, Keith R.; Patton, Kristen K.; Pellegrini, Cara N.; Selzman, Kimberly A.; Thompson, Annemarie; Varosy, Paul D. (2019). “2018 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Bradycardia and Cardiac Conduction Delay: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines and the Heart Rhythm Society”. Circulation. 140 (8). doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000628. ISSN 0009-7322.


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