A throb or pulsation, as of the heart or of an artery.
- apex b. — the palpable shock caused by the apex of the heart beating against the chest wall with each systole and felt over the apex of the heart, normally in the fifth left intercostal space. May be replaced by a thrill.
Palpitation of the apex beat. By permission from Hinchcliff KW, Kaneps AJ, Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery, Saunders, 2004 - capture b's — occasional ventricular responses to a sinus impulse that reaches the atrioventricular node in a nonrefractory phase.
- ectopic b. — a heartbeat originating at some point other than the sinus node.
- escaped b's — heartbeats that follow an abnormally long pause.
- forced b. — an extrasystole produced by artificial stimulation of the heart.
- fusion b. — in electrocardiography, the complex resulting when an ectopic ventricular beat coincides with normal conduction to the ventricle.
- premature b. — an extrasystole.
