[Intermittent bradyarrhythmia in infants and small children treated with permanent pacemaker]

Four children aged two, two and four months and five years respectively, with intermittent cardiac bradyarrhythmias and otherwise normal hearts are described. The diagnoses were based upon findings by telemetry and 24-hour ECG-recordings. Two patients had sinus node disease, one patient had intermittent complete atrioventricular block, and the fourth had a permanent first degree atrioventricular block and intermittent high grade second degree atrioventricular block. All patients presented serious symptoms with apparent life-threatening events before admission. They were given a permanent cardiac pacemaker. One patient experienced recurrent excessive increase in the myocardial stimulation threshold, leading to further syncopal episodes. All patients are developing adequately with normally functioning pacemakers.