Atrial Tachycardia Treatment in Delhi, India
Overview
Atrial tachycardia is a condition with an irregular heart rhythm, a type of arrhythmia that causes the heart to beat faster than normal in the upper chambers of your heart. The typical heart beats about 60 to 100 times a minute. But in the case of atrial tachycardia, the heart beats more than 100 beats a minute.
There are several causes for this condition, but it is often not dangerous. Mostly, it can be cured or managed with medications.
Associated Anatomy of Atrial Tachycardia
Right or left atrium
Alternate Name of Atrial Tachycardia
Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).
Atrial Tachycardia Causes
In a few people, an atrial tachycardia episode is caused due to some trigger, such as exercise, stress, or lack of sleep.
Things that might cause an atrial tachycardia condition include:
- Chronic lung disease: If you have any kind of lung disease, it could initiate.
- Consumption of alcohol and smoking: High intake of alcohol and smoking induces the risk of atrial tachycardia
- Heart attack: Heart attack can cause atrial tachycardia to develop
- Thyroid disease: Having an overactive or underactive thyroid gland can increase the risk of supraventricular tachycardia.
- High caffeine: Consuming too many caffeinated drinks may cause the disease.
- Misuse of drugs: Excessive use of cocaine and other recreational drugs.
- Heart disease: Coronary heart disease and other heart diseases may be responsible for the cause.
Atrial Tachycardia Symptoms
Atrial tachycardia does not show any symptoms, especially if it takes place for a short time. Symptoms caused in adults include:
- Chest pain
- Palpitation
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Shortness of breath
- Lightheadedness
- Weakness
- Sweating
- Pounding sensation in the neck
In infants and children, the symptoms are difficult to identify. Atrial tachycardia cause the following signs and symptoms:
- Rapid pulse
- Vomiting
- Poor feeding
- Pale skin
- Sweating
If your child has any of these signs and symptoms, consult your doctor immediately.
Stage of Atrial Tachycardia
There are no stages of atrial tachycardia.
Atrial Tachycardia Diagnosis and Test
Atrial tachycardia could be diagnosed with an electrocardiogram (ECG). If atrial tachycardia is a rare event, in that case, your doctor might give you an ECG monitor to wear at home that will record your heart rhythm over time. These include a Holter monitor that can be worn for a day or two to record daily heart activities.
To detect occasional arrhythmias, event recorders are used. They are planted under the skin in the chest areas. A physical exam is done annually or as a wellness check-up. An electrophysiology and arrhythmias study is done to measure the electrical activity of your heart. That shows areas where electrical activity in your heart is not happening as it should.
Atrial Tachycardia Treatment
Your doctor will advise you about the treatment based on the severity of the condition and its triggers.
- The primary treatment begins by observing the control rate using AV nodal blocking agents, such as beta-blockers or calcium channel blockers.
- Cardioversion is an important treatment method that should be contemplated in patients whose rhythm is not supported well hemodynamically and the rate of control drugs is ineffective or contraindicated.
- Catheter ablation for atrial tachycardia has become a highly successful and effective treatment option for symptomatic patients whose condition is refractory to medical treatment or who do not opt for antiarrhythmic treatment or therapy.
- It can cure macroreentrant and focal forms of atrial tachycardia.
Secondary treatment
There are no secondary treatments for atrial tachycardia.
Risk Factor of Atrial Tachycardia
The risk of atrial tachycardia is:
- Atrial tachycardia is more common in people who are middle-aged or older.
- People who have coronary artery disease, other heart diseases, or a history of heart surgery previously. Narrowed heart arteries, heart failure, and cardiomyopathy may increase the risk of developing atrial tachycardia.
- Congenital heart disease
- If the person has thyroid, an overactive or underactive thyroid gland can increase the risk of atrial tachycardia.
- People with diabetes have a high risk of developing heart disease and high blood pressure.
- People with obstructive sleep apnea disorder could have a high risk of atrial tachycardia.
- The use of illegal drugs, such as amphetamines and cocaine, may induce atrial tachycardia.
Possible Complication of Atrial Tachycardia
Prolonged atrial tachycardia may lead to cardiomyopathy or heart failure. This type of cardiomyopathy is often amenable if atrial tachycardia can be controlled. Sometimes, atrial tachycardia can lead to another serious type of arrhythmia, called atrial fibrillation.
Atrial Tachycardia Preventions
Primary Prevention of Atrial Tachycardia
Normally, atrial tachycardia is unpredictable and cannot be preventable.
- However, there is the possibility of reducing your risk of developing by keeping away from potential triggers.
- Beta-blockers are used to some extent; they will help decrease the frequency of episodes, and symptoms are reduced by decreasing AV nodal conduction to the ventricles.
Secondary Prevention of Atrial Tachycardia
There are no secondary precautions.
Epidemiology of Atrial Tachycardia
- Atrial tachycardia is rare, constituting 5-15% of all SVTs.
- Atrial tachycardia has no bias towards any ethnic origins or gender. It might have some relation with pregnancy.
- Atrial tachycardia may occur at any age, although it is more common in children and adults with congenital heart disease.
- Hospitalised patients have a prevalence rate of 0.05-0.32%.
- It is predominantly observed in males and older patients.
- The average age of patients is above 70 years.
Expected Prognosis of Atrial Tachycardia
Atrial tachycardia is associated with a low mortality rate in patients with structurally normal hearts. However, tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy has developed in patients with frequent atrial tachycardia. Patients with lung and heart conditions often get affected by atrial tachycardia. Lifestyle changes are another morbidity associated with this condition.
Natural Progression of Atrial Tachycardia
Atrial tachycardia may lead to cardiomyopathy (weakening of the heart muscle) and heart attack.
Pathophysiology of Atrial Tachycardia
Several pathophysiological mechanisms have been attributed to atrial tachycardia. These mechanisms can be differentiated based on the pattern of onset and termination and the response to drugs, and atrial pacing. Automatic atrial tachycardia arises due to enhanced tissue automaticity and is observed in patients with structurally normal hearts and those with organic heart disease.
Triggered activity has features seen with enhanced automaticity, though they are felt to involve calcium channels primarily. Re-entry is typically the underlying mechanism in macro-reentrant atrial tachycardia, like an atrial flutter.