title: Population-based single-center outcome for pediatric catheter ablation of common supraventricular tachycardias.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Catheter ablation has become the preferred treatment for common supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) in children and adolescents, but long-term follow-up data on pediatric patients remain limited.
  
  
  METHODS
  To provide follow-up data, we created a population-based prospective pediatric catheter ablation registry in 1997. All patients underwent clinical follow-up at 1 month and 1 year after the procedure. The follow-up data were completed with a single questionnaire in 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 318 patients, 289 (91%) required one to three procedures for successful ablation. A total of 211 (66%) patients had an accessory pathway, 97 (31%) atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia, and 10 (3%) atrial tachycardia. Two (0.6%) of the 318 patients had serious complications: the first had a complete atrioventricular block and required a pacemaker, while the second had a hemopericardium, which was treated with drainage. A successful ablation procedure was followed by a recurrence in 18 (6%) patients during childhood. In addition, two patients had atrial fibrillation and one had a focal atrial tachycardia as adults after a successful ablation procedure during childhood. Moreover, 12 (4%) patients, who had undergone a successful ablation, complained of increased heart rate after exercise compared to their status before the procedure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our cohort study of 318 pediatric patients, with a mean follow-up of 5 years, SVT ablation was successful for 91% of the patients. Arrhythmia recurred in 6% of the patients. The increased sinus rate following radiofrequency ablation, observed in 4% of pediatric patients, constitutes a new finding, which warrants attention in other patient series.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Cardiology, Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hiippala
authors.forename: Juha-Matti
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Happonen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D013617:Tachycardia, Supraventricular / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: ablation; pediatrics