Multi focal atrial tachycardia ( MAT ).pdf

Multifocal atrial tachycardia ( MAT ) is an arrhythmia commonly seen in patients with chronic pulmonary disease.

This document is about MAT.

1. Multifocalatrialtachycardia(MAT)
MATischaracterizedbyarhythmwithatleastthreedistinctP-wavemorphologieswithrates
typicallybetween100and150beats/min.
Unlikeatrialfibrillation,thereareclearisoelectricintervalsbetweenPwavesandtheatrial
rateisslower.
Themechanismislikelytriggeredautomaticityfrommultipleatrialfoci.
Itisusuallyencounteredinpatientswithchronicpulmonarydiseaseandacute
illness.
TherapyforMATisdirectedattreatingtheunderlyingdiseaseandcorrectinganymetabolic
abnormalities.
Electricalcardioversionisineffective.
Thecalciumchannelblockersverapamilordiltiazemmayslowtheatrialandventricularrate.
Patientswithseverepulmonarydiseaseoftendonottoleratebetablockertherapy.MATmay
respondtoamiodarone,butlong-termtherapywiththisagentisusuallyavoidedduetoits
toxicities,particularlypulmonaryfibrosis.
TheassociatedriskofthromboembolisminMATremainsunclearbutisnotconsideredtobe
thesameasatrialfibrillationoratrialflutter.
Reference:Harrison's21stedition