Ventricular Tachycardia in a Fetus: Benign Course of a Malignant Arrhythmia
Rajan Saileela1, Sakshi Sachdeva1, Daljeet Kaur Saggu1
1Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Fetal Cardiology, CARE Hospitals, Road number 1, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, 500034 India.
Background:
Fetal arrhythmias constitute 10 to 20% of the total referrals to fetal cardiology unit. Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a rare form of fetal tachyarrhythmia.
Materials And Methods:
This report describes the clinical presentation, diagnostic features, and successful management of VT in a fetus at 32 weeks of gestation. Transplacental therapy with sotalol resulted in the termination of tachyarrhythmia in 48 h, followed by good postnatal outcome.
Conclusion:
Fetal m-mode showing ventricular rate higher than atrial rate with atrio-ventricular dissociation is suggestive of VT. Early diagnosis and institution of transplacental therapy prior to development of hydrops seem to carry a good prognosis even in malignant fetal arrhythmias like VT.
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