Circus Sinua Rythmn

  In October I had what the doctos called a coronary artery spasm.  I had a heart cath and there was no blockage found.  While I was in the hopsital and on the monitor, I had a spell where my heart suddenly started racing.
  I felt like I was going to faint but I didn't.  They told me that my heart went from 60 to over 100.
  the next day the cardiologist read the printout of this episode and told me that I had a circus sinus rhtymn.
  Is this a tachycardia?  What type of tachycardia is it?  I tell other people, like the cardiac rehab nurses and
  they say they never heard of it and think I misunderstood.  Can you help clear thisup?
  thanks
  diane

[CCF CARDIO MD APS]

_
Dear Diane,  The most likely reason why the cardiology technicians and nurses do not seem
to know your diagnosis"circus sinus rhythm" is because it is old terminology for what is now
called supraventricular tachycardia with bypass tract (current terminology is reentrant tachycardia).  The bypass tract is like an
extra highway for the heart beat to get from the sinus node(where the heart beat originates)
to the rest of the heart, some are one way and some are two ways, either way they allow for
a circus tachycardia to develop when the conditions are just right.  As for any one who
is experiencing abnormal beats or bouts of tachycardia the first step is usually a holter
monitor or an event recorder to try to capture the abnormal rhythm on tape for further investigation.
It might just be that you need to hear the current, most widely used name for your condition
which I am assuming is supraventricular reentrant tachycardia.  There are actual catheter based treatments for these rentrant
tachycardias that are done by cardiac specialists called electrophysiologists.  
If you want to have your tachycardia evaluated by such a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation you can call 1-800-CCF-CARE and ask to see an EP cardiologist or simply Dr Kidwell.
Information provided in the Heart Forum is intended for general medical informational purposes only, actual diagnosis and treatment can only be made by your physician(s).