Hello, I'm an expert in medical terminology and cardiology. When discussing heart rhythms, "PVCs" stands for Premature Ventricular Contractions, which are extra, abnormal heartbeats that begin in the ventricles, the lower chambers of the heart. "Vtach," short for Ventricular Tachycardia, is a rapid heart rate originating in the ventricles that is generally considered to be a more serious condition than PVCs. To answer your question directly: PVCs and Vtach are not the same thing, and the number of PVCs does not directly correlate with the presence of Vtach. PVCs are individual premature beats, while Vtach is a sustained tachycardia, typically defined as having more than three consecutive PVCs at a rate over 100 beats per minute. read more >>

PVCs are early depolarizations originating in the ventricle due to increased automaticity. NSVT occurs when three or more consecutive PVCs occur at a rate greater than 100 beats-per-minute (Figure 1).read more >>