What serves as the backup pacemaker, generating electrical impulses at 40-60 beats per minute?

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Multiple Choice

What serves as the backup pacemaker, generating electrical impulses at 40-60 beats per minute?

Explanation:
When the primary pacemaker of the heart, the sinoatrial node, isn’t driving the rhythm, the heart can rely on the atrioventricular junction to take over. This region can generate electrical impulses at about 40-60 beats per minute, which is why it’s considered the backup pacemaker. It keeps the ventricles beating in a slower, steady rhythm to maintain perfusion when the SA node isn’t functioning. Purkinje fibers can pace the heart too, but they fire at about 20-40 bpm and are a last-resort source if both the SA node and AV node fail. So the backup pacemaker at the 40-60 bpm range is the atrioventricular junction.

When the primary pacemaker of the heart, the sinoatrial node, isn’t driving the rhythm, the heart can rely on the atrioventricular junction to take over. This region can generate electrical impulses at about 40-60 beats per minute, which is why it’s considered the backup pacemaker. It keeps the ventricles beating in a slower, steady rhythm to maintain perfusion when the SA node isn’t functioning. Purkinje fibers can pace the heart too, but they fire at about 20-40 bpm and are a last-resort source if both the SA node and AV node fail. So the backup pacemaker at the 40-60 bpm range is the atrioventricular junction.

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