Electrophysiological studies and radiofrequency ablations in children and adolescents with arrhythmia.
BACKGROUND
Radiofrequency ablation is the standard non-pharmacological treatment for arrhythmias in pediatric patients. However, arrhythmias and their associated causes have particular features in this population.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and findings of electrophysiological diagnostic studies and radiofrequency ablations in pediatric patients referred to the Electrophysiology Unit at Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, in order to characterize the particularities of this population.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study with 330 electrophysiological procedures performed in patients aged less than 20 years between June 1997 and August 2013.


RESULTS
In total, 330 procedures (9.6% of the overall procedures) were performed in patients aged less than 20 years (14.33 ± 3.25 years, age range 3 months to 19 years), 201 of which were males (60.9%). A total of 108 (32.7%) electrophysiological diagnostic studies were performed and of these, 48.1% showed abnormal findings. Overall, 219 radiofrequency ablations were performed (66.3%) with a success rate of 84.8%. The presence of an accessory pathway was the most prevalent finding, occurring in 158 cases (72.1%), followed by atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (16.8%), typical atrial flutter (3.1%) and extrasystoles originating from the right ventricular outflow tract (2.7%). Three patients developed complications during ablation (1.4%). Among congenital heart diseases, which occurred in 51 (15.4%) patients, atrial sept defect was the most frequent (27.4%), followed by ventricular sept defect (25.4%) and Ebstein's anomaly (17.6%).


CONCLUSIONS
Electrophysiological study and radiofrequency ablation are effective tools for diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias in the pediatric population.
Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Mariana Fernandez
MF
Simão
Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Matheus Nardi
MN
Rios
Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Tiago Luiz Luz
TL
Leiria
Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Marcelo Lapa
ML
Kruse
Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Leonardo Martins
LM
Pires
Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Roberto Tofani
RT
SantAnna
Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Gustavo Glotz de
GG
Lima
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D022062:Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult