Myocardial Injury Progression after Radiofrequency Ablation in School-Age Children

• Published in: Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia 2024-01, Vol.121 (1), p.e20220727-e20220727
• Main Authors: Melo, Sissy Lara de, Ferraz, Alberto Pereira, Lemouche, Stephanie Ondracek, Devido, Marcela Santana, Sousa, Gabriela Liberato de, Rochitte, Carlos E, Pisani, Cristiano Faria, Hachul, Denise Tessariol, Scanavacca, Mauricio
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; por
• ISSN: 1678-4170
• DOI: 10.36660/abc.20220727

The past decades have seen the rapid development of the invasive treatment of arrhythmias by catheter ablation procedures. Despite its safety and efficacy being well-established in adults, to date there has been little data in pediatric scenarios. One of the main concerns is the possible expansion of the ablation procedure scar in this population and its consequences over the years. This study aimed to analyze the risk of myocardial injury progression after radiofrequency catheter ablation in pediatric patients. This is a retrospective study of 20 pediatric patients with previous ablation for treatment of supraventricular arrhythmia that underwent cardiac magnetic resonance and coronary angiography for evaluation of myocardial fibrosis and the integrity of the coronary arteries during follow-up. The median age at ablation procedure was 15.1 years (Q1 12.9, Q3 16.6) and 21 years (Q1 20, Q3 23) when the cardiac magnetic resonance was performed. Fourteen of them were women. Nodal reentry tachycardia and Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome were the main diagnosis (19 patients), with one patient with atrial tachycardia. Three patients had ventricular myocardial fibrosis, but with a volume < 0.6 cm 3 . None of them developed ventricular dysfunction and no patient had coronary lesions on angiography. Radiofrequency catheter ablation did not show to increase the risk of myocardial injury progression or coronary artery lesions.