Supraventricular Tachycardia in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Review of the Literature and Report of Five Cases

¹ The Departments of Medicine, Sections of Cardiology, Ohio State University Medical Center and White Cross Hospital.

1. This study of 360 recently hospitalized cases of acute myocardial infarction and a review of the literature confirms the impression that supraventricular tachycardia is a relatively rare complication of acute myocardial infarction.

2. Supraventricular tachycardia is of grave prognostic import in acute myocardial infarction. This is at least partially due to the fact that this arrhythmia seems to complicate infarction mostly in patients with severely damaged hearts. Only three recoveries were noted in the 19 cases studied.

3. Of our five cases reported, one was related to digitalis intoxication and four were not. The danger of inducing supraventricular tachycardia constitutes another reason for due caution when digitalis is given to patients with acute myocardial infarction, although it should, of course, be used when indicated.

4. In one of our cases the supraventricular tachycardia converted to a fatal ventricular fibrillation following an average dose of deslanoside.