Abnormally rapid heartbeats caused by reentry of atrial impulse into the dual (fast and slow) pathways of ATRIOVENTRICULAR NODE. The common type involves a blocked atrial impulse in the slow pathway which reenters the fast pathway in a retrograde direction and simultaneously conducts to the atria and the ventricles leading to rapid HEART RATE of 150-250 beats per minute.
A generic expression for any tachycardia that originates above the BUNDLE OF HIS.
Abnormally rapid heartbeats caused by reentry circuit in or around the SINOATRIAL NODE. It is characterized by sudden onset and offset episodes of tachycardia with a HEART RATE of 100-150 beats per minute. The P wave is identical to the sinus P wave but with a longer PR interval.
The use of freezing as a special surgical technique to destroy or excise tissue.
Removal of tissue with electrical current delivered via electrodes positioned at the distal end of a catheter. Energy sources are commonly direct current (DC-shock) or alternating current at radiofrequencies (usually 750 kHz). The technique is used most often to ablate the AV junction and/or accessory pathways in order to interrupt AV conduction and produce AV block in the treatment of various tachyarrhythmias.
A small nodular mass of specialized muscle fibers located in the interatrial septum near the opening of the coronary sinus. It gives rise to the atrioventricular bundle of the conduction system of the heart.
An impulse-conducting system composed of modified cardiac muscle, having the power of spontaneous rhythmicity and conduction more highly developed than the rest of the heart.
Abnormally rapid heartbeat, usually with a HEART RATE above 100 beats per minute for adults. Tachycardia accompanied by disturbance in the cardiac depolarization (cardiac arrhythmia) is called tachyarrhythmia.
Recording of the moment-to-moment electromotive forces of the HEART as projected onto various sites on the body's surface, delineated as a scalar function of time. The recording is monitored by a tracing on slow moving chart paper or by observing it on a cardioscope, which is a CATHODE RAY TUBE DISPLAY.
An abnormally rapid ventricular rhythm usually in excess of 150 beats per minute. It is generated within the ventricle below the BUNDLE OF HIS, either as autonomic impulse formation or reentrant impulse conduction. Depending on the etiology, onset of ventricular tachycardia can be paroxysmal (sudden) or nonparoxysmal, its wide QRS complexes can be uniform or polymorphic, and the ventricular beating may be independent of the atrial beating (AV dissociation).
Abnormally rapid heartbeats with sudden onset and cessation.
Abnormally rapid heartbeats originating from one or more automatic foci (nonsinus pacemakers) in the HEART ATRIUM but away from the SINOATRIAL NODE. Unlike the reentry mechanism, automatic tachycardia speeds up and slows down gradually. The episode is characterized by a HEART RATE between 135 to less than 200 beats per minute and lasting 30 seconds or longer.
Simple rapid heartbeats caused by rapid discharge of impulses from the SINOATRIAL NODE, usually between 100 and 180 beats/min in adults. It is characterized by a gradual onset and termination. Sinus tachycardia is common in infants, young children, and adults during strenuous physical activities.
Abnormally rapid heartbeats caused by reentrant conduction over the accessory pathways between the HEART ATRIA and the HEART VENTRICLES. The impulse can also travel in the reverse direction, as in some cases, atrial impulses travel to the ventricles over the accessory pathways and back to the atria over the BUNDLE OF HIS and the ATRIOVENTRICULAR NODE.
A rare form of supraventricular tachycardia caused by automatic, not reentrant, conduction initiated from sites at the atrioventricular junction, but not the ATRIOVENTRICULAR NODE. It usually occurs during myocardial infarction, after heart surgery, or in digitalis intoxication with a HEART RATE ranging from 140 to 250 beats per minute.
Methods to induce and measure electrical activities at specific sites in the heart to diagnose and treat problems with the heart's electrical system.
Regulation of the rate of contraction of the heart muscles by an artificial pacemaker.
A syndrome of ORTHOSTATIC INTOLERANCE combined with excessive upright TACHYCARDIA, and usually without associated ORTHOSTATIC HYPOTENSION. All variants have in common an excessively reduced venous return to the heart (central HYPOVOLEMIA) while upright.
Recording of regional electrophysiological information by analysis of surface potentials to give a complete picture of the effects of the currents from the heart on the body surface. It has been applied to the diagnosis of old inferior myocardial infarction, localization of the bypass pathway in Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, recognition of ventricular hypertrophy, estimation of the size of a myocardial infarct, and the effects of different interventions designed to reduce infarct size. The limiting factor at present is the complexity of the recording and analysis, which requires 100 or more electrodes, sophisticated instrumentation, and dedicated personnel. (Braunwald, Heart Disease, 4th ed)
Small band of specialized CARDIAC MUSCLE fibers that originates in the ATRIOVENTRICULAR NODE and extends into the membranous part of the interventricular septum. The bundle of His, consisting of the left and the right bundle branches, conducts the electrical impulses to the HEART VENTRICLES in generation of MYOCARDIAL CONTRACTION.
Agents used for the treatment or prevention of cardiac arrhythmias. They may affect the polarization-repolarization phase of the action potential, its excitability or refractoriness, or impulse conduction or membrane responsiveness within cardiac fibers. Anti-arrhythmia agents are often classed into four main groups according to their mechanism of action: sodium channel blockade, beta-adrenergic blockade, repolarization prolongation, or calcium channel blockade.
A potentially lethal cardiac arrhythmia that is characterized by uncoordinated extremely rapid firing of electrical impulses (400-600/min) in HEART VENTRICLES. Such asynchronous ventricular quivering or fibrillation prevents any effective cardiac output and results in unconsciousness (SYNCOPE). It is one of the major electrocardiographic patterns seen with CARDIAC ARREST.
Any disturbances of the normal rhythmic beating of the heart or MYOCARDIAL CONTRACTION. Cardiac arrhythmias can be classified by the abnormalities in HEART RATE, disorders of electrical impulse generation, or impulse conduction.
A form of ventricular pre-excitation characterized by a short PR interval and a long QRS interval with a delta wave. In this syndrome, atrial impulses are abnormally conducted to the HEART VENTRICLES via an ACCESSORY CONDUCTING PATHWAY that is located between the wall of the right or left atria and the ventricles, also known as a BUNDLE OF KENT. The inherited form can be caused by mutation of PRKAG2 gene encoding a gamma-2 regulatory subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase.