title: Pacemaker reversion for suspected supraventricular tachycardia.
abstract: Overdrive atrial pacing was employed in twelve patients with suspected supraventricular tachycardia resistant to drug therapy. Eleven of these patients reverted to sinus rhythm with pacing either immediately or after a short episode of atrial fibrillation. In one patient, recordings from the atrial electrode indicated that a broad complex tachycardia was of ventricular rather than supraventricular origin. No complications were encountered and the procedure was well tolerated in all. Overdrive pacing is suggested as a safe alternative to DC cardioversion in drug-resistant supraventricular tachycardia, particularly in the presence of digitalis, in the elderly and in patients with chronic lung disease.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001282:Atrial Flutter / Q000628:therapy*; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000379:methods*; D004554:Electric Countershock; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013610:Tachycardia / Q000628:therapy*