Taquicardia auricular focal y taquicardiomiopatía

Focal atrial tachycardia is characterized by origin in a small area, with fast propagation to the rest of the atria. The main mechanism is abnormal automatism, and less frequently triggered activity and micro reentry. It is more frequently seen in the pediatric and young age population, without any other heart disease. They are characterized by being present almost constantly or incessant, many times asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic. With the passing of time tachycardiomyopathy may develop. Treatment with antiarrhythmic drugs may fail and radiofrequency ablation is usually a definite treatment. Tachycardiomyopathy is a dilated cardiomyopathy caused by different forms of arrhythmias, mainly incessant supraventricular tachycardia or very frequent and persistent ventricular premature beats. Different experimental animal models have been developed in order to understand this entity. A review is made of this experimental entity and of its main clinical presentation.