Supraventricular tachycardia is less serious than ventricular tachycardia, but it's a problem if it happens a lot or if you have symptoms like:
- Racing or pounding heart
- Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
- Shortness of breath
- Sweating
- Fainting
- Chest pain
SVT isn’t usually life threatening, but it can cause troubling symptoms or worsen heart function if it's prolonged. You may have episodes severe enough for a trip to the emergency room.
Abnormal heart rhythms, which can cause supraventricular tachycardia, include:
- Atrial fibrillation
- Atrial flutter
- AV nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT)
- Atrioventricular reciprocating tachycardia (AVRT)
- Atrial tachycardia
Supraventricular Tachycardia Treatment
Medication
Options include beta-blockers, calcium-channel blockers or other antiarrhythmic drugs to reduce your heart rate.
Cardioversion
Cardioversion is a very effective treatment that uses a defibrillator to apply an electrical current to shock the heart back to a normal rhythm.
Catheter Ablation
During ablation, doctors use X-rays to guide a small wire called a catheter into your heart. The catheter burns, or ablates, a tiny section of heart tissue that's causing the heart rhythm problem. This procedure doesn't affect your heart's ability to function.
