What is supraventricular tachycardia? Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, also known as supraventricular tachycardia, is a type of cardiac arrhythmia. Patients with this disease may suddenly feel a rapid heartbeat (mostly more than 150 beats per minute) for a period of time, ranging from a few seconds to several hours, and then the heartbeat suddenly turns to normal, showing the characteristics of sudden onset and stop. The causes and characteristics of supraventricular tachycardia What causes supraventricular tachycardia? The causes of supraventricular tachycardia are broadly twofold: First, the heart is born with an extra muscle between the atria and the ventricles, which, to use a common analogy, is like a short circuit caused by an extra wire. This extra muscle is called an atrioventricular bypass, or bypass for short. Although congenitally present, the vast majority of people will not notice the bypass for a long time, and only some people will have an electrocardiogram that will reveal evidence of the presence of the bypass, a condition medically known as pre-excitation syndrome. The second condition is the creation of two pathways with significantly different properties in the area of the atrioventricular node, a key tissue that normally controls the heartbeat, forming a double pathway in the atrioventricular node. This condition tends to be more common after middle age and is mostly associated with acquired aging, but of course there are some congenital factors as well. Whether there is an atrioventricular bypass or an AV node double pathway, patients may not have an episode of supraventricular tachycardia for many years or may only have an episode once in a very long time. This is mainly because the presence of a bypass or a double pathway is only one condition for the onset of an attack, a trigger is needed for the onset of an attack – a premature beat! Both atrial and ventricular premature beats can cause episodes of supraventricular tachycardia. The older you get, the more likely you are to have premature beats. This is the main reason why many patients experience more frequent episodes of supraventricular tachycardia as they get older. In general, supraventricular tachycardia is a benign condition that does not lead to death, but may affect the patient’s quality of life. In cases of frailty, cardiac insufficiency, or pregnancy, episodes of supraventricular tachycardia may be more troublesome. In patients with severe coronary artery disease, an attack of supraventricular tachycardia may induce angina pectoris or even myocardial infarction. Treatment of supraventricular tachycardia During an attack, the patient can stop it by holding his breath, stimulating the throat with his fingers leading to dry heaving, jumping and other actions. You can also press on the eyeballs or massage the neck, but the latter two methods may lead to retinal detachment or even syncope if not done properly, and are generally best avoided. If you feel a sudden rapid heartbeat, you should count your own pulse or heartbeat for a minute to see how many times, and also go to a nearby hospital as soon as possible for an electrocardiogram to confirm the diagnosis. If it is confirmed to be a supraventricular tachycardia, your doctor will usually give you an injection of medication to terminate it. Occasionally, it is also terminated by electrical stimulation using an electrode under the esophagus. 4. The root cause of supraventricular tachycardia – radiofrequency ablation When you have supraventricular tachycardia, medication can only control it temporarily. To eradicate the disease, catheter ablation is necessary. Many patients with supraventricular tachycardia are worried about their ablation procedure, and even some doctors make it sound very difficult, but in fact this worry is completely unnecessary. In fact, ablation of supraventricular tachycardia is an introductory procedure for all physicians who perform catheter ablation and is equivalent to appendectomy in general surgery. Most tertiary hospitals are able to perform it. The procedure is performed under local anesthesia, and the patient and surgeon can talk and even joke with each other to relax during the procedure. The surgeon only needs to puncture the patient’s neck or chest or the root of the thigh several times, insert the surgical instrument into the heart, and after examination, find a bypass or confirm a double pathway to destroy the lesion by delivering radiofrequency or freezing energy. The success rate of a single procedure is usually over 95%, and is close to 100% in highly specialized hospitals. Even in the case of bypasses or double pathways close to the AV node and Hirschsprung’s bundle, most experienced surgeons can ablate safely and successfully, and only a very small number of right-sided episcleral bypasses may fail to ablate, while left-sided episcleral bypasses are more likely to succeed. Of course, individual patients may require two ablations for special reasons, but this is rare. For supraventricular tachycardia ablation procedure time, it takes about 40-90 minutes to complete a single ablation of supraventricular tachycardia in an experienced center. Patients have little pain and recover quickly after the procedure, and can be off the floor in 4-8 hours. They can be discharged from the hospital the day after the procedure. Costs are typically between $20,000-30,000 at this time.