Basic Arrhythmias With 12 Lead EKG's Practice Test

A gallop rhythm refers to an extra heart sound pattern that creates a three-beat cadence on top of the normal S1 and S2. There are three distinct forms: a ventricular gallop, an atrial gallop, and a summation gallop. The ventricular gallop comes from an S3 after S2 and reflects rapid early diastolic filling of a dilated ventricle, often seen with volume overload or systolic heart failure. The atrial gallop is an S4 that occurs before S1, produced by the stiff ventricle during the atrial kick, commonly due to LV hypertrophy or aging. The summation gallop happens when S3 and S4 are so close in time that they merge, producing a single, more prolonged cadence, typically in severe heart failure or high-output states. The other terms aren’t used to describe a set of gallop rhythms: “systolic” or “diastolic” gallops aren’t standard categories, a “continuous gallop” isn’t a recognized pattern, and murmurs, rubs, and clicks are other, separate types of abnormal sounds rather than gallop rhythms.