An atrioventricular heart block is when there is an interruption or delay of the conduction of the electrical impulses. Electrical impulses are what cause the heart to beat. The electrical impulses occur between the atria and ventricles, or the top and bottom of the heart There are three different types of AV blocks, ranging from first degree to third degree. The type related to this diagnosis is second-degree, type I. Type I second-degree AV block occurs when each electrical impulse occurs slightly slower than the preceding one until the impulse does not conduct to the ventricles (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2008).

Etiology/Cause:
There are a few different causes of an AV block. One cause is myocardial ischemia, or tissue damage of the heart muscle. The damage to heart muscle causes the electrical impulses mentioned above to occur more slowly or at an irregular rate. Another cause is myocardial infarction, otherwise known as a heart attack. With myocardial …show more content…
The drugs cause the electrical impulses to happen more slowly, in turn causing an AV block (LW&W, 2008).

Signs/symptoms:
Usually this type of AV block is asymptomatic, but signs and symptoms can include light-headedness or hypotension, or symptoms common to decreased cardiac output. Cardiac output refers to the rate at which blood is pumped out of the heart per minute (LW&W, 2008).

Your patient’s signs & symptoms:
RS experienced light-headedness, which caused him to have a fall. The fall is what brought him into the emergency department. Then from there, they discovered that he had an AV heart block.
Brief Description of Surgery (if any) – (Please write this in easy to understand terms, copy and paste from books, and online resources will not be accepted. Write this as if you were explaining it to your patient, who does not understand their diagnosis, and you are trying to help them