Accelerated auriculoventricular nodal conduction as a transitory phenomenon in a nervous patient

Abstract

An unusual case is described, of a normal, healthy man of 60 years, with a transitory shortening of the P-R interval to one-half its normal value during a phase of acute emotional disturbance. After evaluation of the various possible mechanisms for such an electrocardiographic abnormality, the theory of sympathetic stimulation resulting in accelerated atrioventricular nodal conduction is put forward as the most likely explanation.