ABSTRACT
Several pointers are used to distinguish a supraventricular tachycardia with broad ventricular complexes from ventricular tachycardia.
It is often said that whereas ventricular tachycardia leads to major haemodynamic disturbance, supraventricular tachycardia does not. This is wrong. Sometimes ventricular tachycardia causes few or even no symptoms, whereas supraventricular tachycardia, if very fast or in the presence of underlying heart disease, can cause shock or heart failure (Figure 14.1).
