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. 2023 Oct 15;12(20):6532.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12206532.

Long-Term Follow-Up of Empirical Slow Pathway Ablation in Pediatric and Adult Patients with Suspected AV Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia

Marta Telishevska  1 , Sarah Lengauer  1 , Tilko Reents  1 , Verena Kantenwein  1 , Miruna Popa  1 , Fabian Bahlke  1 , Florian Englert  1 , Nico Erhard  1 , Isabel Deisenhofer  1 , Gabriele Hessling  1
Affiliations

Long-Term Follow-Up of Empirical Slow Pathway Ablation in Pediatric and Adult Patients with Suspected AV Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia

Marta Telishevska et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to assess long-term efficacy and safety of empirical slow pathway (ESP) ablation in pediatric and adult patients with a special interest in patients without dual AV nodal physiology (DAVNP).

Methods: A retrospective single-center review of patients who underwent ESP ablation between December 2014 and September 2022 was performed. Follow-up included telephone communication, letter questionnaire and outpatient presentation. Recurrence was based on typical symptoms.

Results: 115 patients aged 6-81 years (median age 36.3 years, 59.1% female; 26 pts < 18 years) were included. A typical history was present in all patients (100%), an ECG documentation of narrow complex tachycardia in 97 patients (84%). Patients were divided into three groups: Group 1 without DAVNP (n = 23), Group 2 with AH jump (n = 30) and Group 3 with AH jump and at least one AV nodal echo beat (n = 62). No permanent AV block was observed. During a median follow-up of 23.6 ± 22.7 months, symptom recurrence occurred in 7/115 patients (6.1%) with no significant difference between the groups (p = 0.73, log-rank test). Symptom recurrence occurred significantly more often in patients without (5/18 patients; 27%) as compared to patients with ECG documentation (2/97 patients; 2.1%; p = 0.025). No correlation between age and success rate was found (p > 0.1).

Conclusions: ESP ablation is effective and safe in patients with non-inducible AVNRT. Overall, recurrence of symptoms during long-term follow-up is low, even if no DAVNP is present. Tachycardia documentation before the EP study leads to a significantly lower recurrence rate following ESP ablation.

Keywords: atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia; dual atrioventricular nodal physiology; empirical slow pathway ablation; recurrence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan–Meier analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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