Arrhythmia Review

Lengthened depolarization.

A prolonged plateau.

The ERP is the stage of an action potential during which no subsequent action potential may occur.

The conduction time of action potentials around an alternative pathway is longer than the refractory period of tissue adjacent to a block. As potentials bounce backward, if they hit tissues that have finished their refractory period, that tissue will depolarize prematurely.