[Risk of ventricular fibrillation in patients with Wolff-Parkinson White syndrome].
A 16-year-old boy suddenly fell off his stool, a 26-year-old man had persistent palpitations and a 29-year-old man was reanimated without an incriminating anamnesis. The diagnosis 'Wolff-Parkinson-White(WPW)-syndrome' was made in all three cases. The boy died as a result of postanoxic neurological injury; in the two men, further cardiac rhythm disturbances were prevented by interrupting the accessory atrioventricular connection via radiofrequency catheter ablation. In ECG databases, a WPW-pattern is encountered in 1-3 of 1000 electrocardiograms. Atrial fibrillation with 1:1 conduction via the accessory pathway, leading to ventricular fibrillation, is the most common cause of sudden death in WPW-patients. In some cases, atrial fibrillation with a rapid ventricular response is the first sign of the syndrome. The risk of sudden death in these patients is estimated to be 0.0-0.6% per patient per year and cannot be predicted easily. Curative treatment is possible in the form of radiofrequency catheter ablation.
Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum, afd. Cardiologie, Postbus 9600, 2300 RC Leiden. m.bootsma@lumc.nl
M
M
Bootsma
E E
EE
van der Wall
M J
MJ
Schalij
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D003645:Death, Sudden; D004562:Electrocardiography; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013610:Tachycardia / Q000209:etiology; D014927:Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy
D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents