VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS IN CHILDHOOD

Isolated premature ventricular beats may be seen in 15% of normal newborns, 30% of normal adolescents and 66% of adolescents with repaired heart disease. Sustained ventricular arrhythmias are relatively rare n young normal hearts. Sudden cardiac death is also rare n young with normal hearts, although there is an increased incidence in dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies and following repair of particular congenital heart lesions.Patients with cardiomyopathy (CM) often have ventricular arrhythmias, although the risk of mortality is more closely linked to ventricular function. There are many infants and pediatric patients with apparently normal hearts who have asymptomatic nonsustained ventricular tachycardia.The main concern is to identify diagnoses such as long QT syndrome associated with recurrent cardiac syncope so that appropriate choices can be made regarding drug and/or device therapy.