EKG recordings of complex ectopy: Bigeminy and Trigeminy correspond to CaiO
A: EKG recording of paced rhythm with bigeminy. Each paced beat (green arrows) is followed by a ventricular ectopic beat (red arrow). T-waves on EKG signals are indicated by black arrows. Note that neither Vm nor Cai recover to baseline before the ectopic beat; in this sense, the paced/ectopic beat can be understood as a single complex AP.
B: An episode of trigeminy from the same experiment. Two paced beats are followed by an ectopic beat. The optical tracings indicate that alternans between a short monophasic paced AP and a “bigeminal” AP underlies the trigeminal pattern.
C: Simultaneous EKG and Cai tracing with brief runs of polymorphic VT. Pacing rate was 50 bpm with 2:1 capture. Each run of polymorphic VT corresponds to a single CaT with multiple secondary CaiO.