IMR Press / RCM / Volume 18 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.3909/ricm0863

Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine (RCM) is published by IMR Press from Volume 19 Issue 1 (2018). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with MedReviews, LLC.

Open Access Case Review
Swallowing-induced Supraventricular Tachyarrhythmia
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1 Section of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
2 Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias and Electrophysiology, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, TX
3 Nerve and Muscle Center of Texas, Houston, TX
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2017, 18(1), 53–58; https://doi.org/10.3909/ricm0863
Published: 30 March 2017
Abstract
Swallowing-induced supraventricular tachyarrhythmia is an extremely rare entity with unclear pathophysiology. A 55-year-old man presented with a 2-year history of worsening presyncopal symptoms triggered only by drinking liquids of any temperature. Results of a physical examination were unremarkable except for reproducible atrial tachycardias to 180 to 210 beats/minute documented on rhythm strips when the patient was given water to drink. He underwent radiofrequency ablation with complete resolution of symptoms. We reviewed all 43 published cases of swallowing-induced supraventricular tachyarrhythmia in the English-language medical literature. We found only one other reported case induced only by drinking liquids. Radiofrequency ablation appears to be the treatment of choice.
Keywords
Arrhythmias
Cardiac
Modulation
Catheter ablation
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