EKG INTERPRETATION FINAL PAPER 2026
CERTIFICATION EVALUATION QUESTIONS
AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
●● Automaticity.
Answer: ability to initiate an impulse spontaneously & continuously
●● Excitability.
Answer: ability to be electrically stimulated
●● Conductivity.
Answer: ability to transmit an impulse along a membrane in an order
manner
●● contractility.
Answer: ability to respond mechanically to an impulse
●● What is the path of a NORMAL cardiac impulse?.
Answer: Begins in the SA node in the upper right atrium; spreads over
the arterial myocardium via intertribal and internal pathways causing
atrial contraction, pumping blood into the left and right ventricles;
impulse then travels to the AV node through the bundle of His and down
,the left & right bundle branches; ending in the Purkinje fibers, which
transmit the impulse to the ventricles.
●● Autonomic Nervous System.
Answer: part of he nervous system that regulates involuntary body
functions, including the activity of the cardiac muscle, smooth muscles,
& glands. It has two divisions.
●● Two divisions of the autonomic nervous system:.
Answer: sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.
●● sympathetic nervous system.
Answer: accelerates heart rate, constricts blood verses, and raises BP
●● parasympathetic nervous system.
Answer: slows heart rate, increases intestinal peristalsis & gland activity,
and relaxes sphincters
●● Vagus nerve.
Answer: either of the longest pair of cranial nerves mainly responsible
for parasympathetic control over the heart and many other internal
organs, including thoracic and abdominal viscera
, ●● What causes a decreased rate of firing of the SA node & slowed
impulse conduction of the AV node?.
Answer: stimulation of the vagus nerve
●● What causes an increase in SA node firing, AV node impulse
condition and cardiac contractility?.
Answer: stimulation of sympathetic nerves
●● depolarization.
Answer: reduction of a membrane potential to a less negative value
●● repolarization.
Answer: process by which the membrane potential of a neuron or muscle
cell is restored to the cell's resting potential
●● How does depolarization work in the cardiac muscle cell?.
Answer: the process begins after phase 0 of the action potential and is
completed by the end of phase 3. It encompasses the effective and
relative refractory periods and correlates with the Q-T interval on the
ECG.
●● Depolarization & Repolarization.
Answer: Heart cell membrane is semipermeable - allowing maintenance
of a high concentration of K and low concentration of Na. Outside the
CERTIFICATION EVALUATION QUESTIONS
AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
●● Automaticity.
Answer: ability to initiate an impulse spontaneously & continuously
●● Excitability.
Answer: ability to be electrically stimulated
●● Conductivity.
Answer: ability to transmit an impulse along a membrane in an order
manner
●● contractility.
Answer: ability to respond mechanically to an impulse
●● What is the path of a NORMAL cardiac impulse?.
Answer: Begins in the SA node in the upper right atrium; spreads over
the arterial myocardium via intertribal and internal pathways causing
atrial contraction, pumping blood into the left and right ventricles;
impulse then travels to the AV node through the bundle of His and down
,the left & right bundle branches; ending in the Purkinje fibers, which
transmit the impulse to the ventricles.
●● Autonomic Nervous System.
Answer: part of he nervous system that regulates involuntary body
functions, including the activity of the cardiac muscle, smooth muscles,
& glands. It has two divisions.
●● Two divisions of the autonomic nervous system:.
Answer: sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.
●● sympathetic nervous system.
Answer: accelerates heart rate, constricts blood verses, and raises BP
●● parasympathetic nervous system.
Answer: slows heart rate, increases intestinal peristalsis & gland activity,
and relaxes sphincters
●● Vagus nerve.
Answer: either of the longest pair of cranial nerves mainly responsible
for parasympathetic control over the heart and many other internal
organs, including thoracic and abdominal viscera
, ●● What causes a decreased rate of firing of the SA node & slowed
impulse conduction of the AV node?.
Answer: stimulation of the vagus nerve
●● What causes an increase in SA node firing, AV node impulse
condition and cardiac contractility?.
Answer: stimulation of sympathetic nerves
●● depolarization.
Answer: reduction of a membrane potential to a less negative value
●● repolarization.
Answer: process by which the membrane potential of a neuron or muscle
cell is restored to the cell's resting potential
●● How does depolarization work in the cardiac muscle cell?.
Answer: the process begins after phase 0 of the action potential and is
completed by the end of phase 3. It encompasses the effective and
relative refractory periods and correlates with the Q-T interval on the
ECG.
●● Depolarization & Repolarization.
Answer: Heart cell membrane is semipermeable - allowing maintenance
of a high concentration of K and low concentration of Na. Outside the
