This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Arterial pulse (slow rate)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Bradycardia is a slow heart rate; a pulse rate of less than 60 beats per minute in an adult. It may be divided up into groups much the same as tachycardia, but is more likely to be a sinus rhythm.

Possible situations include:

  • sinus bradycardia - where the abnormally slow pulse is the result of pacemaking from the sino-atrial node. This occurs in situations such as increased intracranial pressure, jaundice, sino-atrial disease, hypothyroidism and in trained athletes
  • atrioventricular dissociation - this occurs in situations such as heart block and rarely, hypothermia.

Occasional ectopics are seen in ventricular bigemini.

Click here for example ECGs in cases of clinical bradycardia - with explanations of significance of ECG findings

Reference:

  1. Spodick DH. Normal sinus heart rate: sinus tachycardia and sinus bradycardia redefined. Am Heart J. 1992 Oct;124(4):1119-21.

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.