NERVOUS AND MENTAL PHENOMENA ASSOCIATED WITH PAROXYSMAL TACHYCARDIA

The syndrome of paroxysmal tachycardia is one that has long been recognized by general physicians, but that has been given little consideration by neurologists and psychiatrists. There seems little doubt that nervous and mental phenomena are frequently associated symptoms and that they may so dominate the picture as to lead to incorrect diagnoses. Although emotional elements may play a part in the syndrome they may be entirely absent, and the symptoms are then directly the result of a cerebral vascular change. It is therefore advisable, in the presence of any recurring paroxysmal type of attack, to bear in mind the possibility of paroxysmal tachycardia and its associated phenomena.