Gender and atrioventricular conduction properties of patients with symptomatic atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

The objective of this study was to delineate the sex distribution and atrioventricular conduction properties in patients with manifest or concealed Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW) and atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT). The study comprised 328 patients with AVNRT, 347 with manifest, and 220 with concealed WPW who underwent radiofrequency ablation. A male preponderance was observed in patients with manifest WPW (69%), but not in those with concealed WPW (52%) and female preponderance in AVNRT patients (67%). The PR (166 +/- 25 ms) and AH (88 +/- 20 ms) intervals obtained 30 minutes after ablation in manifest WPW patients were significantly longer than in concealed WPW patients (149 +/- 20, 76 +/- 15 ms, P <.0001). The PR (146 +/- 20 ms) and AH intervals (75 +/- 15 ms) measured before ablation in AVNRT patients were shorter than those obtained before ablation in concealed WPW patients (154 +/- 21, 80 +/- 17 ms, P <.05) and after ablation in manifest WPW patients (P <.0001). The PR interval in AVNRT patients was also shorter than those measured during follow-up in concealed (153 +/- 21 ms, P <.05) and manifest WPW patients (165 +/- 23 ms, P <.0001). The ventriculoatrial block cycle length in AVNRT patients was significantly shorter than in manifest and concealed WPW patients. When age-matched patients were assigned to each group, significant differences in PR interval were observed between men and women (159 +/- 22 vs. 151 +/- 22 ms, P <.0001). Differences in sex distribution exist among patients with manifest and concealed WPW and AVNRT. The atrioventricular conduction properties required for the manifestation of pre-excitation and induction of AVNRT and gender differences in atrioventricular conduction may account for the differences in sex distribution.