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Holiday heart syndrome: an upcoming tachyarrhythmia in today's youth?
Nathalie Noessler1, Sabrina Schweintzger1, Stefan Kurath-Koller1
1Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescence Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria.
Insights
Isolated atrial fibrillation is rare in children. This report details a rare case of adolescent atrial fibrillation caused by alcohol consumption, a less common trigger in this age group.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Electrophysiology
- Toxicology
Background:
- Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia in adults.
- Isolated AF in pediatric populations is infrequently reported.
- Known causes in children include post-operative complications and congenital heart disease (CHD).
Purpose of the Study:
- To report a rare case of isolated atrial fibrillation in an adolescent.
- To highlight alcohol consumption as an unusual etiology for AF in pediatric patients.
Main Methods:
- Case report presentation.
- Review of relevant medical literature.
Main Results:
- The patient, an adolescent, presented with symptoms of atrial fibrillation.
- Alcohol consumption was identified as the likely trigger for the arrhythmia.
- This represents a rare instance of alcohol-induced AF in a pediatric individual.
Conclusions:
- Alcohol consumption should be considered as a potential, albeit rare, cause of atrial fibrillation in adolescents.
- Further investigation into substance use may be warranted in pediatric patients presenting with unexplained arrhythmias.
Abstract:
Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common arrhythmias in the adult population, in children, however, only a few case reports of isolated atrial fibrillation exist.1 Aside from post-operative AF due to atrial scar formation or suture lines and atrial enlargement in CHD (e.g., mitral stenosis), alcohol consumption represents a rare cause of AF in adolescents. We report on the latter.
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