BACKGROUND Postoperative junctional ectopic tachycardia (JET) occurs frequently after pediatric cardiac surgery. R-wave synchronized atrial (AVT) pacing is used to re-establish atrioventricular synchrony. AVT pacing is complex, with technical pitfalls. We sought to establish and to test a low-cost simulation model suitable for training and analysis in AVT pacing. METHODS A simulation model wa...

A37-year-old man with frequent episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation refractory to antiarrhythmic therapy (and no other documented arrhythmias on multiple Holter examinations) underwent an attempt at radiofrequency ablation of the atrial fibrillation. Catheter positions are shown in the left anterior oblique view in Figure 1 and include 2 catheters in the left and right upper pulmonary vei...

OBJECTIVES We assessed the clinical presentation, natural history, and treatment response of atrial ectopic tachycardia (AET) in children <3 years of age (group 1) compared with those > or =3 years of age (group 2). BACKGROUND Atrial ectopic tachycardia is a common cause of chronic supraventricular tachycardia in children and can be resistant to pharmacologic therapy. Radiofrequency ablation ...

We present a case of recurrent highly symptomatic atrial tachycardia. During electrophysiology (EP) study, this was found to arise close to the AV node. To avoid conduction system damage by radiofrequency (RF) ablation, the aortic cusps were mapped. The tachycardia focus was close to the non-coronary cusp and ablated safely and successfully from this site.

We treated 13 children aged 0.2 years to 15.7 years (median 7.1 years) with flecainide acetate for refractory symptomatic supraventricular tachycardia. Six children had direct atrioventricular accessory pathways, of whom four had overt Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome on the 12 lead electrocardiogram, while in the other two the accessory pathway was concealed. Three children had nodal atrioventri...

Atrial fibrillation (AF), atrial flutter, AV-nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) with rapid ventricular response, atrial ectopic tachycardia and preexcitation syndromes (AVRT) sometimes combined with AF or ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTA) are typical arrhythmias in emergency patients. Most frequently, the diagnosis of the underlying arrhythmia is possible from the 12-lead surface electrocardiog...

Additional comment: There has been a misinterpretation of our study in the accompanying editorial [3]. Authors have commented “The authors advised mothers to expose their newborns to sunshine for a duration of six months, when the association between duration and timing of the sunshine exposure and serum 25(OH)D was analyzed.” [3]. Our study was purely an observational study, and no advice rega...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a management protocol of fetal supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) based on prior identification of the underlying mechanism. DESIGN AND SETTING Prospective study in a mother-child tertiary university centre. PATIENTS During a consecutive 36 month period, 18 fetuses with sustained SVT underwent a superior vena cava/ascending aorta (SVC/AA) Doppler investigation in an at...

BACKGROUND Fetal tachycardia complicated by ventricular dysfunction and hydrops fetalis carries a significant risk of morbidity and mortality. Transplacental digoxin is effective therapy in a small percentage, but there is no consensus with regard to antiarrhythmic treatment if digoxin fails. This study evaluates the safety, efficacy, and outcome of amiodarone therapy for digoxin-refractory fet...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of our work was to define the complex electrophysiological characteristics seen in second- (2 degrees) and third-degree (3 degrees) atrioventricular block (AVB) and to longitudinally follow the development of atrial and ventricular heart rate and rhythm patterns with a goal of identifying heart rate and rhythm patterns associated with urgent delivery or neonatal pacing. ...