Cardiac Ablation in the Pediatric Population at a Tertiary Care Center
in a Developing Country
Abstract
Introduction: The aim of this study was to describe our experience and
outcome of ablation therapy of arrhythmias in children at a tertiary
care center. Methods: Data was collected retrospectively from the
hospital medical records. All children presenting to AUBMC between 2000
and 2020 who underwent cardiac ablation were included. The data
collected included type of arrhythmia, ablation technique, age and
weight at ablation, procedure complications, medications used, and
outcome assessment. Results: We had 67 patients who underwent cardiac
ablation. Of those, 60% were males with a mean age of 15 years.
Structural heart disease was present in 6% of patients.
Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW) was most prevalent at 31%,
followed by atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) at
24%, atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT) at 19%, ventricular
tachycardia (VT) at 10%, atrial fibrillation (AF) at 2%, and atrial
tachycardia (AT) at 1%. The remaining 13% of patients presented with
less common types of arrhythmias, including narrow complex tachycardia,
retrograde dual atrioventricular nodal reentry, premature ventricular
contractions (PVC), and orthodromic reciprocating tachycardia.
Antiarrhythmic medications were started prior to the procedure in 59%
of our population. Medication regimens post-ablation included beta
blockers (68%), type 1c antiarrhythmics (25%), calcium channel
blockers (3%), ivabradine (2%), and amiodarone (2%). The completed
procedures showed a success rate of 93%. Conclusion: Ablation of
arrhythmias in children is an effective procedure in the treatment of
childhood arrhythmias. More studies are needed on cardiac ablation in
children with structural heart disease in the Middle East region.