Abstract
Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is typically a regular, narrow complex tachycardia although underlying conduction disease, aberrant conduction and, rarely, antegrade conduction (atrium to ventricle) through an accessory pathway will result in wide complex tachycardia. 90% of SVTs are due to reentrant mechanisms. Diagnostic and therapeutic maneuvers for SVTs include vagal maneuvers and the administration of adenosine. Any SVT that is dependent on the AV node should terminate with an adequate bolus of adenosine. The patient should be connected to a continuous 12-lead ECG prior to these maneuvers. However, if patients with SVT are hemodynamically unstable they should be immediately cardioverted. Patients with accessory pathways, which are required for atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia, may have antegrade sinus conduction down the pathway which manifests as a delta wave due to ventricular pre-excitation. IV digoxin, IV amiodarone, beta blockers, diltiazem and verapamil are harmful in the acute treatment of pre-excited AF blockade of the AV node may lead to 1:1 conduction of AF through the accessory pathway.
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Abbreviations
- AT:
-
Atrial Tachycardia
- AF:
-
Atrial Fibrillation
- AVN:
-
Atrioventricular Node
- AVNRT:
-
Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia
- AVRT:
-
Atrioventricular Reentrant Tachycardia
- ECG:
-
Electrocardiogram
- JT:
-
Junctional Tachycardia
- MAT:
-
Multifocal Atrial Tachycardia
- PAC:
-
Premature Atrial Contraction
- PVC:
-
Premature Ventricular Contraction
- ST:
-
Sinus Tachycardia
- SVT:
-
Supraventricular Tachycardia
- TIA:
-
Transient Ischemic Attack
- VT:
-
Ventricular Tachycardia
- VF:
-
Ventricular Fibrillation
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Black, G., Merchant, F. (2020). Supraventricular Tachycardia. In: Wells, B., Quintero, P., Southmayd, G. (eds) Handbook of Inpatient Cardiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47868-1_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47868-1_4
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