Which description best matches the Valsalva maneuver?

Which description best matches the Valsalva maneuver?

• A. Bearing down while holding one's breath
• B. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly
• C. Rapidly inhaling through pursed lips
• D. Holding breath with mouth closed and swallowing

Answer: (A)

The main idea is creating a Valsalva maneuver, which happens when you bear down as if trying to have a bowel movement while keeping the airway closed (holding the breath). This action dramatically increases intrathoracic pressure and triggers a reflex via the vagus nerve that can slow conduction through the heart’s AV node. In practice, this maneuver is used to try to terminate certain fast heart rhythms (like stable SVT) by slowing the heart rate and AV nodal conduction without drugs. The description that matches this best is bearing down while holding one’s breath. That exact sequence—closed airway with effortful exhalation against it—produces the necessary intrathoracic pressure change. Other breathing descriptions describe different techniques: taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly is a relaxed, slow-expiration technique; rapidly inhaling through pursed lips is pursed-lip breathing used for gas exchange in obstructive conditions; holding breath with mouth closed and swallowing doesn’t generate the same intrathoracic pressure or vagal effect as the Valsalva maneuver.

The main idea is creating a Valsalva maneuver, which happens when you bear down as if trying to have a bowel movement while keeping the airway closed (holding the breath). This action dramatically increases intrathoracic pressure and triggers a reflex via the vagus nerve that can slow conduction through the heart’s AV node. In practice, this maneuver is used to try to terminate certain fast heart rhythms (like stable SVT) by slowing the heart rate and AV nodal conduction without drugs.

The description that matches this best is bearing down while holding one’s breath. That exact sequence—closed airway with effortful exhalation against it—produces the necessary intrathoracic pressure change.

Other breathing descriptions describe different techniques: taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly is a relaxed, slow-expiration technique; rapidly inhaling through pursed lips is pursed-lip breathing used for gas exchange in obstructive conditions; holding breath with mouth closed and swallowing doesn’t generate the same intrathoracic pressure or vagal effect as the Valsalva maneuver.