Ventricular irritability?

[jbd]

Can anyone give me a description of what ventricular irritability is and what causes it? How does this relate to premature ventricular contractions?

Internet searches only mention ventricular irritabilty as a cause of PVC's.

Any web articles you could direct me to would be sincerely appreciated.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by jbd
Can anyone give me a description of what ventricular irritability is and what causes it? How does this relate to premature ventricular contractions?

At the baseball stadium the fans start the WAVE... you see it coming and when it gets to your section you stand with everyone and wave your hands over your head and then sit back down... and the wave continues on around the stadium.... except there is this really impatient guy with a bunch of boisterous friends on the other side of the stadium who decides to do his own little wave... and his buddies join in... and sure enough all the folks in the section are triggered into action and a counter wave starts... soon the whole stadium is in pandimonium with waves of different origins and different strengths going every which way...

And then Casey whacks a home run ball out of the park and everyone shuts up... then the WAVE... without all the rest of the pseudowaves... starts up again... and it is stronger than ever and well defined as we all cheer in turn.

 

[jbd]

Uncle Pug,

Nice analogy.

Now the crux of the problem. What caused that one guy to be impatient?

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by jbd
What caused that one guy to be impatient?

Well... we don't always know looking at things from across the stadium...

If you were sitting next to him when he spilled hot coffee in his lap you might think that was it ... but he might have just start to get up and head for the restroom (not having a stadiumpal) and his coffee spilled onto your lap so you jumped up too... the slightly inebriated fans behind you thinking the wave had arrived joined in...

Or maybe his wife fainted from lack of oxygen (or the sight of Casey up to bat) and he jumped up to call for help and the rest followed suit...

Or this guy is just a chronic trouble maker that always pulls this kind of stunt... like the guy who always claps out of sync and does the rabbit ears behind someone in every picture...

Sometimes he becomes so troublesome that the ushers come down and escort him and his friends out of the ballpark... I have heard that in some countries they even use shock prods!

 

[jashanley]

Originally posted by jbd
Can anyone give me a description of what ventricular irritability is and what causes it? How does this relate to premature ventricular contractions?

Ventricular irritability and PVC's can be looked upon as a cause and an effect.

Ventricular irritablity is due to many causes: electrolyte abnormalities, use of caffeine, stimulants, your own upregulated "fight or flight" mechanisms i.e. sympathetic nervous system with endogenous epinephrine excess, medications, illicit drugs, and unrecognized cardiac disease or poor tissue oxygenation.

Mulitple conditions can make the heart muscle irritable. Much like if you were exposed to conditions or situations which might make you angry or annoyed. The specialized muscle in the heart gets irritated or annoyed and fires an electrical impulse which is out of rhythm with the normal heart function (a PVC or premature ventricular contraction). This causes the heart to beat out of rhythm and sometimes people get symptoms.....other times it goes unnoticed. Even very healthy people can get PVC's on a regular basis. However, if a person is having a feeling of an abnormal rhythm in their heart.....like you can feel your heart beating funny.......or you feel lightheaded or have chest pains it is time to see your doctor.

Because your doctor knows you best and can answer your questions in the context of you history it is best to talk to him/her regarding your medical condition. These websites can be good for general information but more detailed information can be found at sites such as the american heart association website http://www.americanheart.org, the national library of medicine website http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ , webmd website http://www.webmd.com/ or even the emedicine website http://www.emedicine.com/
Even heading to your local library might be useful.
The internet can provide good information but sometimes there is misinformation surrounding the good stuff. Be wary. Good luck and hope this helped.