Heart rhythm condition
AVNRT (AV Nodal Re-entrant Tachycardia) in Reseda, CA
Atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia, often called AVNRT, is a type of SVT. Recovered Cardiac Rhythm Specialists education described it as the second most common SVT. A heart rhythm specialist may evaluate possible AVNRT when a fast rhythm starts above the ventricles.
What AVNRT is
In a normal heart there is a single electrical pathway, or “gate,” called the atrioventricular (AV) node that controls the timing and direction of the electrical signal as it travels from the atria to the ventricles.
With AVNRT, recovered education explained that an extra electrical pathway forms and allows the signal to travel backward through the AV node at the same time, starting another heartbeat. The signals can go around the two pathways in a circular pattern called re-entry.
How fast it may feel
The recovered Conditions page stated that during AVNRT the heart rate can become very fast, in the range of 160 to 220 beats per minute. Those figures are educational background from older materials. Only a recorded rhythm and a physician can say whether an episode is AVNRT.
How this relates to SVT and WPW
AVNRT is one kind of SVT. It is different from AVRT, in which an extra pathway goes around the AV node rather than through it. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is related to an accessory pathway and is discussed separately.
How specialists may evaluate it
Evaluation may include history, EKG, and rhythm monitoring. An electrophysiology study may be discussed when a physician needs more detail about the pathway.
This page cannot diagnose AVNRT.
Potential treatment approaches
If AVNRT is diagnosed, a physician may discuss maneuvers, medications, or catheter ablation. Whether any of those is appropriate is an individual decision.
Medication and ablation details require physician review and are not standing orders.
When to contact a physician
Call the Reseda office if you have been told you may have AVNRT or sudden racing-heart episodes. Call 911 for fainting, severe chest pain, or collapse.