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Intraventricular conduction delays (IVCD) are conduction disorders seen in intraventricular propagation of supraventricular impulses resulting in changes in the QRS complex duration or morphology, or both. IVCD can be caused by abnormalities in the structures of bundle of His, Purkinje fibers or ventricular myocardium.
The conduction system consists of specialized heart muscle cells, situated within the myocardium. [3] There is a skeleton of fibrous tissue that surrounds the conduction system which can be seen on an ECG. Dysfunction of the conduction system can cause irregular heart rhythms including rhythms that are too fast or too slow.
Any abnormality of conduction takes longer and causes "widened" QRS complexes. In bundle branch block, there can be an abnormal second upward deflection within the QRS complex. In this case, such a second upward deflection is referred to as R′ (pronounced "R prime"). This would be described as an RSR′ pattern.
Normal variation causing LAD is an age-related physiologic change. Conduction defects such as left bundle branch block or left anterior fascicular block can cause LAD on the ECG. Pre-excitation syndrome as well as congenital heart diseases such as atrial septal defect, endocardial cushion defects can also cause LAD on ECG.
The medications that most commonly cause first-degree heart block are those that increase the refractory time of the AV node, thereby slowing AV conduction. These include calcium channel blockers, beta-blockers, cardiac glycosides, and anything that increases cholinergic activity such as cholinesterase inhibitors. [2]
In specialized catheter laboratories, they use fine probes inserted through the blood vessels to map electrical activity from within the heart. This allows abnormal areas of conduction to be located very accurately and subsequently destroyed by heat, cold, electrical, or laser probes in a process called catheter ablation.