Supraventricular Tachycardias

The term supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is used to describe tachycardias that involve tissue from the His bundle or above. These SVTs include inappropriate sinus tachycardia, both focal and multifocal atrial tachycardia (AT), various types of macroreentrant AT (including typical and atypical atrial flutter), junctional tachycardia, atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT), and various forms of accessory pathway-mediated reentrant tachycardias (AVRTs). The guidelines definition of paroxysmal SVT (PSVT) is: “A clinical syndrome characterized by the presence of a regular and rapid tachycardia of abrupt onset and termination. These features are characteristic of AVNRT or AVRT, and, less frequently, AT. PSVT therefore represents a subset of SVT.” The current chapter will discuss these arrhythmias, including epidemiology, mechanisms, diagnosis, and management in detail.