Sudden and intermittent fast heartbeat (> 100 beats per minute) that comes and goes and originates in the atria of the heart.
It is promoted by toxic substances such as tobacco, alcohol, caffeine and other drugs, as well as some diseases.
The person, in an abrupt and not sustained way, can feel palpitations, anxiety and sometimes chest pain and dizziness.
The diagnosis is made through the medical history and is confirmed with an electrocardiogram that records the arrhythmia (a device that records the heart rhythm for 24 hours).
In a controlled manner, reverting may be tried with a neck massage or by tensing the abdomen (strong cough or effort to defecate). Otherwise, medication will be needed to reverse the arrhythmia or even receive a low-energy electric shock. Long-term, surgical options may be considered (myocardial ablation).
- Leonard I Ganz. Clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and evaluation of narrow QRS complex tachycardias. UpToDate. Sep 28, 2016.
- Katritsis DG, Josephson ME. Differential diagnosis of regular, narrow-QRS tachycardias. Heart Rhythm 2015; 12:1667.
- Ferguson JD, DiMarco JP. Contemporary management of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. Circulation 2003; 107:1096.
- Michaud GF, Stevenson WG. Taquiarritmias supraventriculares. Harrison. Principios de Medicina Interna. Volumen 2. 19º Edición: 1483-1484.
- Bradley P Knight. Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. UpToDate. Jan 13, 2016.
