Chronic ectopic tachycardia in infancy and childhood

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1. 1. Ten patients with chronic ectopic arrhythmias have been reported on, some presenting with a sustained, others with a repetitive pattern. 2. 2. The sustained and repetitive forms of chronic ectopic tachycardia should be grouped together, since transition from one to the other is relatively common. 3. 3. Characteristic electrocardiographic leatures are variation in the rate of the ectopic focus, a relatively slow frequency in the range of 140 to 160 per minute, ease with which P waves can be identified in the standard leads, spontaneous occurrence of atrioventricular block, and susceptibility to extracardiac physiologic variables. 4. 4. Characteristic clinical features are onset in childhood years, resistance to therapy, infrequent occurrence of congestive failure cerebrovascular complications, and benign prognosis.