title: Supraventricular tachycardias: proposal of a diagnostic algorithm for the narrow complex tachycardias.
abstract: The narrow complex tachycardias (NCTs) are defined by the presence in a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) of a QRS complex duration less than 120ms and a heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute; those are typically of supraventricular origin, although rarely narrow complex ventricular tachycardias have been reported in the literature. As some studies document, to diagnose correctly the NCTs is an arduous exercise because sometimes those have similar presentation on the ECG. In this paper, we have reviewed the physiopathological, clinical, and ECG findings of all known supraventricular tachycardias and, in order to reduce the possible diagnostic errors on the ECG, we have proposed a quick and accurate diagnostic algorithm for the differential diagnosis of NCTs.
authors.affiliation: U.O.C. Medicina Vascolare, Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy. carmelob147@tiscali.it
authors.forename: Carmelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buttà
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tuttolomondo
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Di Raimondo
authors.forename: Glauco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Milio
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miceli
authors.forename: Maria Tereza
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Attanzio
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giarrusso
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Licata
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pinto
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation; D001282:Atrial Flutter; D001283:Atrioventricular Node; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D013617:Tachycardia, Supraventricular / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology