Atrial fibrillation in the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

Atrial fibrillation in patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome may lead to syncope, ventricular fibrillation, and sudden death. In a follow-up study of 241 patients with WPW syndrome in a relatively unselected population, 26 patients had documented atrial fibrillation (11%). These patients were followed up after 1-37 years (median 11 years; mean 15 years). During this period, 2 of 26 died suddenly. These 2 patients had the shortest RR interval during spontaneous atrial fibrillation (less than or equal to 220 msec), greater than or equal to 1 episodes of syncope, and a persistent delta wave in all available electrocardiograms. In comparison, sudden or tachycardia-related death was seen in 4 of the 241 patients. This difference is not statistically significant. Thus, atrial fibrillation of 26 patients with WPW syndrome was surprisingly well tolerated in our follow-up study with only 2 sudden deaths.