Ventricular Tachycardia (VT or V-Tach) is a rapid heart beat that originates in one of the lower chambers (the ventricles) of the heart. To be classified as tachycardia, the heart rate is usually at least 100 beats per minute.
This type of rapid heart rate can originate in either the left or right ventricle. Ventricular tachycardia which lasts more than 30 seconds is referred to as sustained ventricular tachycardia (but not the abbreviated ‘SVT’). A period of three to five rapid beats is called a salvo, and six beats or more, but lasting less than 30 seconds is called non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT). Rapid ventricular rhythms are more serious than rapid atrial rhythms because they make the heart extremely inefficient. They also tend to cause more severe symptoms, and have a much greater tendency to result in death.
Although generally considered to be among the life-threatening abnormal rhythms, benign forms of VT do exist. These occur in people without any structural heart disease.
