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Abstract
The clinical course of 140 patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome who had their
initial episode of supraventricular tachycardia before 18 years of age was reviewed.
Among those whose tachycardia began at age 0 to 2 months, it disappeared in 93% and
persisted in 7%. In 31%, it disappeared and reappeared at an average age of 8 years.
Among patients whose tachycardia was present after age 5 years, it was persistent
in 78% at a mean follow-up period of 7 years. Accessory connection location was mapped
by electrophysiologic study in 87 patients and estimated by electrocardiography in
53 patients. There were no differences in tachycardia onset or recurrence based on
accessory connection location. Congenital heart defects were present in 37% of all
patients, 23% of whom had Ebstein's anomaly. Among all patients who underwent cardiac
catheterization, 63% of those with a congenital heart defect had a rightsided accessory
connection, whereas 61% of patients with a normal heart had a left-sided connection
(p less than 0.01). Multiple accessory connections were found in 12% of patients with
a congenital heart defect compared with 6% of those without such a defect.
1) supraventricular tachycardia due to Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome that begins
in infancy may disappear, but it frequently recurs in later childhood; 2) if tachycardia
is present after age 5 years, it persists in greater than 75% of patients; and 3)
the location of the accessory connection does not affect the clinical course of tachycardia
in children with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.