Supraventricular Tachycardia

Abstract

Supraventricular tachycardias (SVTs) comprise a group of usually benign arrhythmias that originate from cardiac tissue at or above the His bundle. SVTs include inappropriate sinus tachycardia, atrial tachycardias (ATs), atrial flutter (AFL), junctional tachycardia, atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT), and forms of accessory pathway–mediated reentrant tachycardias (atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia [AVRT]). Although mostly benign, symptoms can be debilitating, in the form of palpitations, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, dizziness, and/or syncope; rarely, SVTs can result in cardiomyopathy due to incessant arrhythmia. This review covers the epidemiology, diagnosis, management, and classification of SVTs.  This review contains 14 figures, 17 tables, and 61 references. Keywords: Supraventricular tachycardia, cardioversion, arrhythmia, atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, MAZE procedure, catheter ablation