Abstract
To assess the incidence and prognostic significance of cardiac dysrhythmias in children with idiopathic dilated or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the clinical course of 59 patients was retrospectively reviewed over a period of 27 years. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) was diagnosed in 28 patients and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in 31 patients. The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 2.8±0.7 years in DCM patients and 6.7±0.8 years in HCM patients. Mean follow-up time after diagnosis of cardiomyopathy was 4.1±1.0 years in DCM patients and 6.6±0.8 years in HCM patients. Clinically significant cardiac dysrhythmias were found in 17 of 59 patients (29%): 7 of 28 patients (25%) with DCM and 10 of 31 patients (32%) with HCM. The initial diagnosis of a cardiac dysrhythmia was made by standard electrocardiography in 12 of 17 patients (71%) and by 24-hour Holter monitoring in 5 of 17 patients (29%). Ventricular dysrhythmias were present in 5 of 7 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and in 5 of 10 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. During the follow-up time, death occurred in 18 of 59 patients (31%): 8 of 59 patients (14%) died from congestive heart failure and 10 of 59 patients (17%) died suddenly. Among the sudden deaths were 4 of 28 patients (14%) with dilated cardiomyopathy and 6 of 31 patients (19%) with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Cardiac dysrhythmias had been documented in 6 of the 10 patients dying suddenly (3 of 4 patients with DCM and 3 of 6 patients with HCM). It is concluded that (1) cardiac dysrhythmias are not a rare finding in children with idiopathic dilated or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and (2) their occurrence is not a predictor for sudden death.
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Müller, G., Ulmer, H.E., Hagel, K.J. et al. Cardiac dysrhythmias in children with idiopathic dilated or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Pediatr Cardiol 16, 56–60 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00796818
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00796818