[Surgical treatment of supraventricular tachycardias in children]

The paper deals with the results of surgical treatment in 19 children with supraventricular tachycardias. Eighteen patients were found to have the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and one presented with ectopic right atrial tachycardia. The accessory pathways in the free wall and anterior septum in the presence of the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome were eliminated on the working heart, whereas those in the posterior septum were removed during extracorporeal circulation via endocardial access. Ectopic right atrial tachycardia was arrested by arrhythmogenic area resection in the right atrium during extracorporeal circulation. A positive result of the operation was achieved in 17 of the 18 patients. At day 2 of postsurgery, one patient developed recurrent tachycardia that was eliminated during a repeated operation. Which optimal method should be chosen to remove accessory pathways is discussed in the paper.