Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT)
Also calledSVT · supraventricular tachycardia
Definition
An umbrella term for tachycardias (atrial and/or ventricular rate over 100 bpm at rest) whose mechanism involves tissue from the His bundle or above, that is, atrial or AV junctional tissue. It usually produces a narrow QRS (under 120 ms); the QRS is wide when there is aberrant conduction, a preexisting bundle branch block, or pre-excitation. It includes atrial tachycardia, atrial flutter, junctional tachycardia, AVNRT, and AVRT. Atrial fibrillation is, strictly speaking, also supraventricular, but the 2015 ACC/AHA/HRS SVT guideline leaves it out of the term. In clinical practice the term is often used more narrowly for atrial tachycardias and the reentrant junctional tachycardias, of which AVNRT and AVRT are the most common.
Sources
- Page RL, Joglar JA, Caldwell MA, et al. 2015 ACC/AHA/HRS guideline for the management of adult patients with supraventricular tachycardia. Circulation. 2016;133(14):e506-e574. doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000311
- Mason JW, Hancock EW, Gettes LS. Recommendations for the standardization and interpretation of the electrocardiogram: Part II: electrocardiography diagnostic statement list. Circulation. 2007;115(10):1325-1332. doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.106.180201
- Esberger D, Jones S, Morris F. ABC of clinical electrocardiography: junctional tachycardias. BMJ. 2002;324(7338):662-665. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7338.662
- Samesima N, God EG, Kruse JCL, et al. Brazilian Society of Cardiology guidelines on the analysis and issuance of electrocardiographic reports - 2022. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2022;119(4):638-680. doi.org/10.36660/abc.20220623
Last reviewed 2 October 2026. Every definition in the EKG Dictionary cites the guideline, consensus statement or original paper it comes from.