Education in Heart
ArrhythmiasDrug treatment of supraventricular tachycardia
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to Professor Carina Blomström-Lundqvist, Department of Cardiology, University Hospital, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; carina.blomstrom.lundqvist@akademiska.se
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is characterised by a rapid impulse formation, that emanates from the sinus node, from atrial tissue (focal or macro-reentrant atrial tachycardia (AT)), from the atrioventricular (AV) node, or from anomalous muscle fibres that connect the atrium with the ventricle (accessory pathways (APs)). The most frequently (90%) encountered SVTs are AV nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT), AV reentrant tachycardia (AVRT) mediated by accessory pathways, and atrial flutter (AFL). The remaining SVTs are AT and non-paroxysmal, usually incessant, forms of SVT.
Paroxysmal forms of SVT (PSVT) are regular recurrent tachycardias with a sudden onset and termination. If terminated by vagal manoeuvres, a reentrant tachycardia involving the AV node is most likely. The ventricular rate during SVT is commonly between 140–250 beats/min (bpm). If vagal or pharmacologic manoeuvres (adenosine) during an SVT result in AV block with persistence of atrial tachycardia, the diagnosis is most likely AT. The A:V ratio
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Web only appendix
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- Citation Map
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Google Scholar
PubMed
BMJ Learning
Topic Collections
-
Drugs: cardiovascular system
-
Tachyarrhythmias
-
Acute coronary syndromes
-
Arrhythmias
- Education in Heart
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
