Treatment of Multifocal Atrial Tachycardia with Verapamil

Abstract

MULTIFOCAL atrial tachycardia is a distinct electrocardiographic entity characterized by an atrial rate of more than 100 beats per minute, the presence of at least three different P-wave forms, and variation in the PR and PP intervals.1 The condition usually occurs episodically in the setting of an acute clinical decompensation in seriously ill patients, often in the respiratory intensive care unit, and it usually resolves with management of the underlying illness.2 However, as in any atrial tachyarrhythmia, a rapid ventricular response rate may lead to myocardial ischemia or heart failure, and thus the need to treat multifocal atrial tachycardia may . . .