Idiopathic ventricular arrhythmia in children and adolescents: early effectiveness of radiofrequency current ablation.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate early effectiveness of radiofrequency (RF) current ablation for idiopathic ventricular arrhythmia (iVA) in children and to identify factors affecting treatment results. Among over 600 children, 30 ablation procedures were performed for iVA. Patient age ranged from 2.0 to 17.9 years (mean 14.7 ± 3.1). We analysed arrhythmia recurrences at 24 h and the effect of patient age, arrhythmia location, type of anaesthesia, and the presence of spontaneous arrhythmia during the procedure on the treatment results. Sixteen (53%) children had right ventricular (RV) arrhythmia, including RV outflow tract arrhythmia in 9 of them (56%). In 14 (47%) children, arrhythmia was located in the left ventricle (LV), including LV outflow tract in 2 children, and the posterior fascicle in 4 children. The procedure was effective in 13 (81%) children in the RV arrhythmia group and in 11 (78%) children in the LV arrhythmia group, including all children with fascicular tachycardia. The only variable that affected the treatment results was the presence of spontaneous arrhythmia during the procedure (p = 0.012). No procedural complications were noted. RF current ablation of iVA is a safe procedure with high early effectiveness. The only variable that affected the treatment results was the presence of spontaneous arrhythmia during the procedure.