A therapist notes that the pulse of a patient with premature ventricular contractions skips every other beat. This finding is best termed?

The term that most accurately describes the pattern of a pulse that skips every other beat, as noted in the case of the patient with premature ventricular contractions, is bigeminy. This condition is characterized by a repeated pattern where a normal heartbeat is followed by a premature contraction, resulting in an alternating rhythm of normal and abnormal beats.

In bigeminy, the sequence typically goes normal beat, PVC, normal beat, PVC, and so on, creating the perception of a pulse that seems to "skip" every other beat. This is significant in understanding arrhythmias and their effects on hemodynamic stability.

The other terms have specific meanings in the context of cardiac rhythms. A couplet refers to two consecutive PVCs occurring together, while trigeminy would indicate a pattern where a normal beat is followed by two consecutive PVCs (normal, PVC, PVC). Quadrigeminy describes a situation involving four beats in a similar alternating pattern to bigeminy, where a normal beat occurs followed by three PVCs. Hence, recognizing the distinctive nature of bigeminy is essential for accurate diagnosis and understanding of the patient's cardiac condition.