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Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome
What is it?
Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome is an electrical defect of the heart that can affect how it pumps. In a normal heart, electrical signals use one path when they move through the heart.
If the electrical signal arrives at the heart too soon, this is called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.
There are four chambers in the heart. The top two are the atria and the lower two are the ventricles. The heart uses a complex electrical system to make the muscle walls of the atria and ventricles pump blood throughout the body.
The heartbeat is what makes the muscle walls squeeze and relax at the right times. The heartbeat starts in the right atrium when a group of cells called the sinus node send a signal.
This is the heart's pacemaker. The signal starts the atria and ventricles, making a complete heartbeat.
Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome may cause supraventricular tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) or other arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeat).
How is it treated?
Medicines may be used. A procedure called radiofrequency ablation is used to treat this condition. In this, a flexible tube called a catheter is guided to the place where the problem exists. Then that tissue is destroyed with radiofrequency energy. This stops the electrical pathway.
This treatment can end the need for medicine.
It depends on many factors whether a child can be treated with medicines or an ablation procedure.
These include how severe and frequent the symptoms are, the risk for future arrhythmias, and what the patient and family prefer.