Brigita Putelienė, Jūratė Kasparavičienė

Key words: orthodromic tachycardia, antidromic tachycardia, accessory conduction path, reciprocal atrioventricular tachycardia, WPW syndrome.

Summary. The article includes review of literature on pediatric cardiac dysrrhythmias due to accessory conduction paths (ACP). The short resume on mechanism of dysrrhythmia development, clinics, electrocardiographical criteria, peculiarities of diagnosis and tachycardia treatment algorythm are presented. The data of 58 patients (average age 10.1 years) with cardiac dysrrhythmias due to accessory conduction paths (DDACP) treated during the period of 1998–2000 in the II pediatric department of Kaunas Medical University Clinics are represented.

The highest rate of DDACP was observed in two age groups: the newborns and 10–15 year-old children. Orthodromic tachycardia occurs much more often for children (96.5%). 46 patients underwent electrophysiological researches and the additional characteristics of ACP were determined: direction of the conduction, localization, quantities, and electrocardiographycal characteristics. The effect of treatment was determined: successful radiofrequency ablation was performed to 25 children (87%) without complications. The treatment was not indicated for 15 children.