Читать книгу Understanding Anatomy and Physiology in Nursing - John Knight - Страница 106

Ventricular fibrillation is a serious life-threatening arrhythmia that commonly occurs following major MIs, chronic heart disease and occasionally following an electrical shock. During VF the ventricles are not contracting in an organised manner and the heart can no longer function as an effective pump. Unless the heart can be restored to its original sinus rhythm via the use of a defibrillator, the patient will die. VF is usually very clear on an ECG since no QRS complexes or sinus rhythm are visible.

In the first part of this chapter we examined how the heart functions as an efficient pump to ensure continuous circulation of blood. We now need to explore in greater detail the role played by blood vessels in distributing blood and maintaining blood pressure.