Atrial tachycardia: mechanisms, diagnosis, and management

Abstract

Atrial tachycardia is an uncommon arrhythmia and may be focal or macroreentrant. This review concentrates on focal atrial tachycardia. Over the last decade there have been a number of advances in delineating the mechanism and anatomic locations of focal atrial tachycardia. The lack of efficacy of antiarrhythmic therapy and the advent of radiofrequency ablation have altered our primary approach to the treatment of focal atrial tachycardia. This review discusses the clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of focal atrial tachycardia. There is particular focus on the mechanisms, anatomic locations, and P wave morphology, as well as the techniques of mapping and radiofrequency ablation.