- ectopic pacemaker
- any biological cardiac pacemaker other than the sinoatrial node; under normal conditions it is not active.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
ectopic pacemaker
Look at other dictionaries:
Ectopic pacemaker — An ectopic pacemaker or ectopic focus is an excitable group of cells that causes a premature heart beat outside the normally functioning SA node of the human heart. Acute occurrence is usually non life threatening, but chronic occurrence can… … Wikipedia
Ectopic — In the wrong place. Out of place. An ectopic kidney, for example, is one that is not in the usual location. The term ectopic comes from the Greek ektopis meaning displacement ( ek , out of + topos , place = out of place). The first person to use… … Medical dictionary
Pacemaker — A system that sends electrical impulses to the heart in order to set the heart rhythm. The pacemaker can be the normal natural pacemaker of the heart or it can be an electronic device. The natural pacemaker of the heart is the sinus node, one of… … Medical dictionary
ectopic focus — see under pacemaker … Medical dictionary
Cardiac pacemaker — The contractions of the heart are controlled by chemical impulses, which fire at a rate which controls the beat of the heart.The cells that create these rhythmical impulses are called pacemaker cells, and they directly control the heart rate.… … Wikipedia
atrioventricular junctional pacemaker — an ectopic pacemaker occurring in the atrioventricular junction … Medical dictionary
escape pacemaker — an ectopic pacemaker that assumes control of cardiac impulse propagation because of failure of the sinoatrial node to generate one or more normal impulses … Medical dictionary
ventricular pacemaker — an ectopic pacemaker occurring in a ventricle … Medical dictionary
latent pacemaker — ectopic p … Medical dictionary
secondary pacemaker — ectopic p … Medical dictionary
