Automatic supraventricular tachycardia is characterized by a sudden onset tachycardia and does not have a warm up phase. true or false?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not applicable
• D. Depends on patient

Answer: (B)

Automatic supraventricular tachycardia is all about how the heart rate ramps up when the tachycardia begins. Tachycardias that come from enhanced automaticity, like focal atrial or regionally automatic AV nodal tachycardias, typically show a gradual acceleration to the tachycardia rate—the warm-up phase—and a gradual slowdown when the tachycardia stops (cool-down). This gradual onset reflects the increasing and then decreasing automaticity of the ectopic focus. In contrast, reentrant tachycardias usually start and stop abruptly without a warm-up. So the statement is false because automatic SVT can and often does have a warm-up phase.