Utility of Echocardiography in Detecting Silent Complications After Pediatric Catheter Ablations

Although transcatheter arrhythmia ablation (TCA) has been performed in children for over two decades, guidelines for routine use of post-ablation transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) are absent. We sought to determine the efficacy of TTE after apparently uneventful TCA procedures in detecting adverse findings and identify predisposing factors. A retrospective review of clinical and procedural data on patients who underwent TCA for supraventricular arrhythmias from 2000 to 2015 was performed. Pre- and post-ablation TTE data were reviewed. All patients were followed at 1 week, 6 and 12 months post-TCA. A repeat TTE was performed at 12 months on patients in whom post-TCA abnormalities were found. Patients were divided into two groups: those with and without adverse TTE findings and comparative analysis between variables was performed. Data on 252 patients, 52% males, mean age 14 ± 3 years were analyzed. New onset or worsening atrioventricular valve regurgitation occurred in 17 (6.7%), a small pericardial effusion in 3 (1.2%) and worsened ventricular function in 2 patients (0.8%). Patients in the complication group had higher mean number of ablations (22.6 ± 15.3 vs. 16.8 ± 9.2, p 0.001) and required longer duration of ablation (sec) (254.6 ± 256.4 vs. 180.9 ± 158.9, p < 0.001). TCA location (including coronary sinus), energy source, arrhythmia substrate, and a trans-septal approach were noncontributory to any adverse findings. Routine post-ablation TTE uncovers asymptomatic self-resolving abnormalities that typically do not require any intervention.