Atrioventricular nodal reentry and dual atrioventricular node physiology in patients undergoing accessory pathway ablation

Abstract

The finding of dual atrioventricular (AV) nodal pathway physiology, with or without AV nodal reentrant tachycardia, poses a therapeutic dilemma in patients with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome undergoing operative treatment. These findings may be incidental and of no clinical significance or, alternatively, they may indicate the potential for clinical AV nodal reentrant tachycardia. We reviewed the records of 402 patients who had operative therapy for accessory pathways to determine the incidence of dual AV nodal pathway physiology or AV nodal reentry and the clinical significance of these findings.