Supraventricular tachycardia | EPFL Graph Search

Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is an umbrella term for fast heart rhythms arising from the upper part of the heart. This is in contrast to the other group of fast heart rhythms – ventricular tachycardia, which start within the lower chambers of the heart. There are four main types of SVT: atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), and Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome. The symptoms of SVT include palpitations, feeling of faintness, sweating, shortness of breath, and/or chest pain. These abnormal rhythms start from either the atria or atrioventricular node. They are generally due to one of two mechanisms: re-entry or increased automaticity. Diagnosis is typically by electrocardiogram (ECG), holter monitor, or event monitor. Blood tests may be done to rule out specific underlying causes such as hyperthyroidism or electrolyte abnormalities. A normal resting heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute. A resting heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute is defined as a tachycardia. During an episode of SVT, the heart beats about 150 to 220 times per minute. Specific treatment depends on the type of SVT and can include medications, medical procedures, or surgery. Vagal maneuvers, or a procedure known as catheter ablation, may be effective in certain types. For atrial fibrillation, calcium channel blockers or beta blockers may be used for rate control, and selected patients benefit from blood thinners (anticoagulants) such as warfarin or novel anticoagulants. Atrial fibrillation affects about 25 per 1000 people, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia 2.3 per 1000, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome 2 per 1000, and atrial flutter 0.8 per 1000. Signs and symptoms can arise suddenly and may resolve without treatment. Stress, exercise, and emotion can all result in a normal or physiological increase in heart rate, but they can precipitate SVT in rare cases. Episodes can last from a few minutes to one or two days. They sometimes persist until treated.

An integrated heart-torso electromechanical model for the simulation of electrophysiological outputs accounting for myocardial deformation

Alfio Quarteroni, Francesco Regazzoni

When generating in-silico clinical electrophysiological outputs, such as electrocardiograms (ECGs) and body surface potential maps (BSPMs), mathematical models have relied on single physics, i.e. of the cardiac electrophysiology (EP), neglecting the role o ...

Elsevier Science Sa2024

Novel spatiotemporal processing tools for body-surface potential map signals for the prediction of catheter ablation outcome in persistent atrial fibrillation

Jean-Marc Vesin, Adrian Luca, Etienne Pruvot

Background: Signal processing tools are required to efficiently analyze data collected in body-surface-potential map (BSPM) recordings. A limited number of such tools exist for studying persistent atrial fibrillation (persAF). We propose two novel, spatiot ...

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA2022

ECG-Based Indices to Characterize Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Before and During Stepwise Catheter Ablation

Jean-Marc Vesin, Adrian Luca, Etienne Pruvot

Background: Consistently successful patient outcomes following catheter ablation (CA) for treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation (pers-AF) remain elusive. We propose an electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis designed to (1) refine selection of patients most ...

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA2021