Supraventricular Tachycardia is any tachycardia rhythm originating above which node?

• A. Atrioventricular node
• B. Sinoatrial node
• C. Bundle of His
• D. Purkinje fibers

Answer: (A)

Supraventricular tachycardia means a fast rhythm that starts above the ventricles. The key landmark is the boundary between atrial/AV nodal tissue and the ventricular conduction system, which is the AV node. Arrhythmias that originate in the atria or at the AV node itself are considered supraventricular, whereas impulses arising from below that point—in the bundle of His-Purkinje system or ventricles—are ventricular tachycardias. So the AV node is the reference used to define where a tachycardia is supraventricular.