Does Your Wolff-Parkinson-White Patient Need to Slow Down?

In brief Two healthy young athletes, a 22-year-old college football player and a 31-year-old elite runner, were evaluated for paroxysmal tachycardia. The football player's resting ECG showed the short PR interval and delta wave characteristic of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Electrophysiologic studies were required to diagnose accessory-pathway conduction in the runner. The high incidence of tachyarrhythmias seen among people who have this preexcitation syndrome makes detection essential. When such arrhythmias cannot be controlled with drug therapy, catheter ablation helps.