The follow-up study on the treatment of children with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

Abstract

Objective To compare the short-term and long-term therapeutic effects of oral rehydration salts,metoprolol or midodrine hydrochloride in children with postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS).Methods Two hundred and forty-four children with POTS diagnosed in the First Hospital Peking University of from Dec.2004 to Jan.2013 were followed up in clinics or by telephone.They were divided into oral rehydration salt group (n =75),metoprolol group (n =66) and midodrine hydrochloride group (n =103).The patients were followed up for 3 ～ 100 months.Results After 3 months of treatment,the symptom scoring of the three groups was improved greatly as compared with the baseline data.Therapeutic effect of midodrine hydrochloride group was significantly superior to metoprolol group and oral rehydration salt group (x2 =8.750,P =0.013).One hundred and forty-two out of 244 children were followed up and their head-up tilt test(HUT)was repeated.The HR increment of children in 3 groups became smaller as compared with before treatment (P ＜ 0.05).After follow-up,the symptom scoring was improved greatly as compared with the baseline scoring (P ＜ 0.05).The short-term effect of midodrine hydrochloride group was significantly better than that of metoprolol group or oral rehydration salt group (x2 =8.750,P =0.013).The Kaplan-Meier curves showed that the long-term effect of midodrine hydrochloride group was significantly superior to metoprolol group and oral rehydration salt group (89.3％vs 78.8％,P =0.033;89.3％ vs 76.0％,P =0.002).Conclusion Oral rehydration salts,midodrine hydrochloride or metoprolol were all effective for POTS in children.And the short-term and long-term effect of midodrine hydrochloride might be superior to metoprolol and oral rehydration salts. Key words: Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome; Treatment; Follow-up study; Children