Supraventricular tachycardia in a human immunodeficiency virus-infected man

Although supraventricular tachycardias and human immunodeficiency virus infections are common diseases by themselves, a combination is not so common. Such a patient was encountered recently and described in this case report. Because misdiagnosis of tachyarrhythmias is not uncommon and may lead to inappropriate therapy-frequently resulting in acute clinical deterioration or even death, a discussion of management of supraventricular tachyarrhythmias in general was included. The recent introduction of adenosine into clinical use provides an effective agent in, and revolutionizes, the management of patients with supraventricular tachyarrhythmias. Its application, both for diagnostic and for therapeutic purposes, was discussed in some details in this report.