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Multifocal atrial tachycardia - Treatment

Treatment:

If you have a condition that can lead to MAT, that condition should be treated first.

Treatment for MAT includes:

Methods to improve blood oxygen levels
Magnesium given through a vein
Stopping medications, such as theophylline, which can increase the heart rate
Medicines to control the heart rate, such as such as calcium channel blockers (verapamil, diltiazem) or certain beta-blockers

Expectations (prognosis):

MAT can be controlled if the condition that causes the rapid heartbeat is treated and controlled.

Complications:

Cardiomyopathy
Heart failure
Reduced pumping action of the heart

Calling your health care provider:

Call your health care provider if:

A rapid or irregular heartbeat is associated with other MAT symptoms
You have MAT and your symptoms get worse, do not improve with treatment, or new symptoms develop

Heart, section through the middle

Heart, front view

Reviewed last on: 5/4/2010
Issam Mikati, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine. Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Ferri FF. Ferri’s Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment. 8th ed. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2006:540.

Marx J. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 5th ed. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2002:1080-1081.

Olgin JE, Zipes DP. Specific arrhythmias: diagnosis and treatment. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. St. Louis, Mo: WB Saunders; 2007:chap 35.

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