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Course: Supraventricular Tachycardia Following Mitral Valve Surgery

CME Credits: 1.00

Released: 2022-09-07

A man in his mid-50s with a history of mitral valve repair presented to the emergency department with complaints of recent-onset palpitation within the last hour. On physical examination, the patient showed a rhythmic tachycardia with a rate of 178 beats/min and blood pressure of 130/80 mm Hg. The 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) revealed a regular tachycardia with a rate of 178 beats/min; no obvious P waves were recognizable (A). The QRS complexes displayed 2 different morphologies occurring with a definite allorhythmic distribution: pairs of beats exhibiting complete right bundle branch block (RBBB) and QRS duration of 140 milliseconds followed by a third beat with normal configuration and QRS duration of 70 milliseconds. This trigeminal variation in intraventricular conduction occurred without any change in cycle length and was maintained. Adenosine administration quickly slowed the ventricular rate allowing recognition of an atrial tachycardia with a rate of 178/min and a 2:1 atrioventricular (AV) ratio (B).


Educational Objective
Based on this clinical scenario and the accompanying image, understand how to arrive at a correct diagnosis.


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