Long-term treatment of refractory sypraventricular tachycardia by patient-controlled inductive atrial pacing.

Two patients with a long history of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia are presented. The episodes of arrhythmia had been refractory to a wide variety of suppressive drugs and a significant deterioration in life style had resulted. Cardiac conduction studies demonstrated a re-entry mechanism, and it was possible to induce and terminate the tachycardia by appropriately timed electrical stimuli. The application of this principle to long-term control using inductive right atrial pacing is discussed. Both patients have repeatedly abolished episodes of tachycardia using this technique.