[Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome: long-term follow up study in a pediatric population (86 cases)]

Eighty six patients (48 males and 38 females) with W-P-W diagnosed before the age of 15 years had a maximum follow-up of 20 years. The mean age at diagnosis was 3 y and 5 m., most cases being concentrated in the first 6 months of life (37%). Twenty seven (31.4%) had associated heart disease, the more common being: ventricular septal defect (6 cases), Ebstein malformation (5 cases) and transposition of the great arteries (4 cases). Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) was the commonest form of clinical presentation, followed by examination because heart murmur or heart disease. Fifty patients (58%) had SVT along the follow-up. SVT was more frequent in W-P-W type A than in type B (p less than 0.05). There was a statistically significant correlation (p less than 0.001) between the association of SVT and the absence of heart disease, but the finding must be questioned because the true incidence of W-P-W in normal population is unknown. There also were a significant correlation (p less than 0.05) between the association of W-P-W type B and the presence of heart disease. An electrophysiologic study was performed in 11 patients, 6 of them being concealed W-P-W. Four patients were operated upon because of SVT. We have studied a total of 154 SVT episodes in the 50 patients with SVT. The treatment more frequently used to finish the SVT included: verapamil, DC-Countershock and Digoxin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)