Supraventricular tachycardias are the most commonly encountered arrhythmias during and shortly after pregnancy. This case report describes several ECG-based diagnostic considerations and briefly reviews the current standards of care.

CMAJ • NOVEMBER 10, 2009 • 181(10) © 2009 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors 714 A54-year-old man presented with an 8-week history of episodic palpitations accompanied by chest pain and headache. He had no sweating with the episodes. Investigations included 24-hour urine collection for the presence of metanephrines. One month later, while awaiting the results of the investigations, t...

Palpitations are a common problem seen in family medicine; most are of cardiac origin, although an underlying psychiatric disorder, such as anxiety, is also common. Even if a psychiatric comorbidity does exist, it should not be assumed that palpitations are of a noncardiac etiology. Discerning cardiac from noncardiac causes is important given the potential risk of sudden death in those with an ...

Methods We studied 50 patients with infrequent ( 1 episode/month), sustained ( 1 min) palpitations. Before enrollment, patients had a negative initial evaluation, including history, physical examination, and ECG. Patients were randomized either to conventional strategy (24-h Holter recording, a 4-week period of ambulatory ECG monitoring with an external recorder, and electrophysiological study)...