BACKGROUND: In this study, we reported our experience with the use of cardiac event recorders in pediatric patients. METHODS: We evaluated 583 patients fitted with an event recorder (15-30 days) between March 2010 and November 2014 at our clinic. Excluded from the study were 117 patients with no recorded events and six with records contaminated by electrocardiogram artifacts. All of the patients received electrocardiograms, Holter monitoring, and echocardiography before the cardiac event recording. RESULTS: The patient sample consisted of 460 patients (64% female). The mean age was 12.8 ± 4.1 years. The median number of recorded events was 7. The indications included palpitations in 336 (73%) patients, syncope in 27 (6%) patients, and chest pain and palpitations in 97 (21%) patients. Whereas 64 patients (14%) had structural heart disease according to echocardiographic examination, the remaining patients had normal echocardiographic examination results. The most frequent cardiac comorbidities were mitral valve prolapse (6%), operated tetralogy of Fallot (1.5%), and complicated congenital heart diseases with single ventricle physiology (1%). The recorded events were sinus tachycardia in 113 (25%) patients, supraventricular tachycardia in 35 (8%) patients, ventricular extrasystole in 20 (4%) patients, supraventricular extrasystole in nine (2%) patients, and ventricular tachycardia in two (0.4%) patients. Based on the event recorder and follow-up electrocardiogram findings, 46 patients received an electrophysiology study/ablation. The symptom-rhythm correlation was 39%. CONCLUSION: In the presence of possible arrhythmia-related symptoms in children, a cardiac event recorder can be considered a useful primary diagnostic method. More research on this topic is needed.
BACKGROUND: In this study, we reported our experience with the use of cardiac event recorders in pediatric patients. METHODS: We evaluated 583 patients fitted with an event recorder (15-30 days) between March 2010 and November 2014 at our clinic. Excluded from the study were 117 patients with no recorded events and six with records contaminated by electrocardiogram artifacts. All of the patients received electrocardiograms, Holter monitoring, and echocardiography before the cardiac event recording. RESULTS: The patient sample consisted of 460 patients (64% female). The mean age was 12.8 ± 4.1 years. The median number of recorded events was 7. The indications included palpitations in 336 (73%) patients, syncope in 27 (6%) patients, and chest pain and palpitations in 97 (21%) patients. Whereas 64 patients (14%) had structural heart disease according to echocardiographic examination, the remaining patients had normal echocardiographic examination results. The most frequent cardiac comorbidities were mitral valve prolapse (6%), operated tetralogy of Fallot (1.5%), and complicated congenital heart diseases with single ventricle physiology (1%). The recorded events were sinus tachycardia in 113 (25%) patients, supraventricular tachycardia in 35 (8%) patients, ventricular extrasystole in 20 (4%) patients, supraventricular extrasystole in nine (2%) patients, and ventricular tachycardia in two (0.4%) patients. Based on the event recorder and follow-up electrocardiogram findings, 46 patients received an electrophysiology study/ablation. The symptom-rhythm correlation was 39%. CONCLUSION: In the presence of possible arrhythmia-related symptoms in children, a cardiac event recorder can be considered a useful primary diagnostic method. More research on this topic is needed.
Authors: Matthias Gass; Christian Apitz; Schahriar Salehi-Gilani; Gerhard Ziemer; Michael Hofbeck Journal: Cardiol Young Date: 2006-12 Impact factor: 1.093
Authors: Soori Sivakumaran; Andrew D Krahn; George J Klein; Jane Finan; Raymond Yee; Suzanne Renner; Allan C Skanes Journal: Am J Med Date: 2003-07 Impact factor: 4.965
Authors: Khalid N Al Dhahri; James E Potts; Christine C Chiu; Robert M Hamilton; Shubhayan Sanatani Journal: Pacing Clin Electrophysiol Date: 2009-09-19 Impact factor: 1.976
Authors: Elizabeth Vickers Saarel; Christopher B Stefanelli; Peter S Fischbach; Gerald A Serwer; Amnon Rosenthal; Macdonald Dick Journal: Pediatrics Date: 2004-02 Impact factor: 7.124