What Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm Looks Like on Your Watch ECG

Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm ECG
Qaly Heart
Qaly is built by Stanford engineers and cardiologists, including Dr. Marco Perez, a Stanford Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford Cardiac Electrophysiologist, and Co-PI of the Apple Heart Study.

Key Takeaways

  • AIVR is a type of abnormal heart rhythm where heartbeats start in your heart's lower chambers, or ventricles, before they start where they normally should: from your heart's natural pacemaker, or sinus node.
  • To recognize AIVR on your watch ECG, look for a heart rhythm with a regular R-R Interval, a heart rate typically between 50 bpm and 120 bpm, and three or more consecutive PVCs with wide QRS Complexes (over 120 milliseconds). For clarity, we show visual examples of AIVR on watch ECGs in this article.
  • For most people, AIVR is usually harmless and resolves on its own when your sinus node paces your heartbeat again. As always, though, if you're experiencing worsening symptoms, contact your healthcare provider to rule out any underlying conditions.

Got other questions on AIVR? See the Qaly guides on AIVR:

Introduction

Hello, heart hero. In your quest to identify that irregular heart rhythm you just felt, you may have come across the terms Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm or AIVR. With your trusty watch ECG now in hand, you may be wondering, "What does Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm look like on my watch ECG?" In this guide, we'll help you see Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm on your watch ECG. Let's dive in.

What's Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm?

Before trying to identify Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm on your ECG, it's helpful to remind yourself what Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm actually is. (If you're confident in your Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm knowledge, though, skip on ahead to the next section for some visual examples of an Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm ECG).

To start, remember how your heart beats? It produces an electrical signal, which squeezes and unsqueezes your heart, which in turn pumps your blood to your lungs for oxygen and then out to the rest of your body.

Normally, your heart produces that electrical signal from your "sinus node" to generate a Normal Sinus Rhythm. Sometimes, however, that electrical signal starts from somewhere else in your heart, where it isn't supposed to. In the case of AIVR, your heartbeats start in your heart’s lower chambers, or ventricles, and they start before your sinus node is able to start your heartbeat. Specifically, in Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm, you'll see three or more consecutive Premature Ventricular Contractions or PVCs.

So What Does Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm Look Like on My Watch ECG?

To identify Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm on your ECG, look for these tell-tale signs:

  • A heart rate typically between 50 bpm and 120 bpm.
  • Three or more consecutive PVCs.
  • A wide QRS Complex over 120 milliseconds.
  • In most cases, a regular R-R Interval, or heart rhythm.

For visual examples, take a look at Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm seen on Qaly members' watch ECGs.

Here's AIVR caught on a Qaly member's Apple Watch ECG. Look for these tell-tale signs: three or more consecutive PVCs with wide QRS Complexes.
Here's AIVR caught on a Qaly member's Apple Watch ECG. Look for these tell-tale signs: three or more consecutive PVCs with wide QRS Complexes.

Here's another AIVR caught on a Qaly member's Apple Watch ECG. Here, too, notice the consecutive PVCs with wide QRS Complexes. Even though there's Sinus Rhythm after the 23s mark in this ECG, it's easy to be confused by the Apple Watch ECG app, which labeled this entire strip as a Sinus Rhythm ECG.
Here's another AIVR caught on a Qaly member's Apple Watch ECG. Here, too, notice the consecutive PVCs with wide QRS Complexes. Even though there's Sinus Rhythm after the 23s mark in this ECG, it's easy to be confused by the Apple Watch ECG app, which labeled this entire strip as a Sinus Rhythm ECG.

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Here's Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm caught on another Qaly member's Apple Watch ECG. Are you able to spot the tell-tale signs of an AIVR ECG in the top-right of this image?
Here's Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm caught on another Qaly member's Apple Watch ECG. Are you able to spot the tell-tale signs of an AIVR ECG in the top-right of this image?

Is Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm a Cause for Concern?

For most people, AIVR is harmless and goes away without treatment, because AIVR usually resolves itself when your heart's sinus node starts to set your heartbeat again. Usually, you won't feel any symptoms with AIVR. If you do, they include:

As always, if you show signs of a potential Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm or if you're experiencing worsening symptoms, contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible to rule out the presence of harmful underlying conditions.

Conclusion

Well, that just about wraps up our guide on what AIVR looks like on your watch ECG. We hope this could be of some help to you.

If you still need help interpreting your ECGs, don't worry, we understand how scary and confusing it can be to experience irregular heartbeats. That's why we created the Qaly app for you and for the hundreds of millions of people around the world who live with heart palpitations and abnormal heart rhythms. On the Qaly app, human experts will interpret your ECGs within minutes for clarity and peace of mind.

To get started with the Qaly app, grab the Qaly app from the App Store or Play Store today. If you have any more questions, or if you need our help in any other way, don't hesitate to reach out to us at support@qaly.co.

As always from the team at Qaly, stay heart healthy ❤️

Wondering if it's Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm? On the Qaly app, human experts will interpret your ECGs for Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm within minutes. Get started today.

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Wondering if it's Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm? On the Qaly app, human experts will interpret your ECGs for Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm within minutes. Get started today.

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