Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia

By behereaxum

Summary

It hits out of nowhere — your heart suddenly racing, then, just as fast, back to normal. That's paroxysmal SVT.

Chapters

  1. It hits out of nowhere — (0s)
  2. On the monitor, SVT is fast, (8s)
  3. The most common type is AVNRT (15s)
  4. AVRT uses an accessory pathway from (23s)
  5. Atrial tachycardia fires from an ectopic (32s)
  6. Triggers include caffeine, stress, and stimulants. (39s)
  7. If stable, try vagal maneuvers, then (46s)
  8. Always check rate, rhythm, QRS width, (51s)

Transcript

It hits out of nowhere — your heart suddenly racing, then, just as fast, back to normal. That's paroxysmal SVT. On the monitor, SVT is fast, regular, and narrow, with rates of 140 to 250. The most common type is AVNRT — a reentry loop inside the AV node, using slow and fast pathways. AVRT uses an accessory pathway from Wolff-Parkinson-White. Orthodromic stays narrow; antidromic goes wide. Atrial tachycardia fires from an ectopic focus, so its P waves look different from a normal sinus beat. Triggers include caffeine, stress, and stimulants. Patients feel palpitations, dizziness, or shortness of breath. If stable, try vagal maneuvers, then adenosine. If unstable, use synchronized cardioversion. Always check rate, rhythm, QRS width, and blood pressure. Fast, regular, narrow equals SVT.