Cardiac arrhythmias in paediatric practice

Clinical data of patients with cardiac arrhythmias managed between May 1986 and March 1988 were reviewed to determine their mode of presentation and clinical course. Of the 5,768 admissions, 62 (1.07%) patients had arrhythmias. During the same period, 21 patients were managed as outpatients with 13 being new referrals. Thirty-eight patients had undergone corrective cardiac procedures, 8 others had congenital heart lesions, 3 were associated with acquired cardiac pathology and the remaining had isolated arrhythmias. The cardiac arrhythmias were: right bundle branch block 36, premature atrial and ventricular contractions 15, supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) 15, atrioventricular (AV) block 7, sinus bradycardia 3, atrial fibrillation 2, ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation 2, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome without SVT 2, bradytachyarrhythmia 1. There were 3 patients with foetal SVT, one persisting till day 1. High grade AV block occurred in 2 patients post-surgically and needed pacing. Only 2 others were symptomatic. Other than the 38 patients who underwent corrective procedures (2 had balloon valvuloplasty for pulmonary stenosis), 8 others had structural heart disease. There was 1 sudden death and 5 died from their primary heart disease.