Abnormal Heart Rhythm

Wolff-Parkinson White (WPW) Syndrome

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Treatment

Treatment for Wolff-Parkinson White (WPW) syndrome will depend on the type and severity of your child's condition and the results of their diagnostic tests, such as the electrophysiology (EP) study. You and your doctor will decide which treatment is right for your child.

The following treatments may be considered:

Medications -- Certain anti-arrhythmic drugs change the electrical signals in the heart and help prevent irregular or rapid heart rhythms from occurring. Medication may be used to convert the arrhythmia of WPW to a normal rhythm, slow down the heart rate or prevent recurrences.

Follow-up Electrophysiology Study -- On occasion, we admit children to the hospital and monitor their heart rhythm while we start their medication. To make sure that your child's medication is working properly, your child may be brought to the electrophysiology (EP) laboratory for an electrophysiology (EP) study. Our goal is to find the medication that works best for your child.

Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation (RFA) -- Pioneered at UCSF Medical Center, radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFA) is a technique used to treat arrhythmias. For conditions like WPW, in which a hair-thin strand of tissue creates an extra electrical pathway between the upper and lower chambers of the heart, RFA ablation offers a cure and has become the standard treatment for this condition.

RFA disrupts part of the electrical pathway causing irregular heart rhythms, providing relief for patients who may not respond well to medications, who prefer not to take medications or who can't take medications.

The procedure involves threading a tiny metal-tipped catheter through a vein or artery in the leg and into the heart. Using fluoroscopy or X-ray, doctors guide the catheter through a blood vessel to the heart. Additional catheters, inserted through the vein in the leg and the neck, contain electrical sensors to find the area causing the arrhythmia. This is called mapping.

The metal-tipped catheter is maneuvered to each site in the heart that causes the irregular heartbeat. Radiofrequency waves or current is sent through the tip of the catheter, cauterizing or burning cells to destroy the extra electrical pathways that cause abnormal heart rhythms. In most cases, patients leave the hospital within 24 hours or the same day.

Cryoablation -- Cryoablation, sometimes referred to as cryo, is similar to radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFA) in that it is a procedure that disrupts the abnormal electrical pathway in the heart. This newer technology has been used in the Electrophysiology Laboratory at UCSF Children's Hospital since March 2004.

Instead of burning cells, however, cryoablation destroys cells by freezing them and has become the treatment of choice for children with arrhythmias. Your doctor will discuss this treatment and others with you to decide which method is the best option.

Like RFA, cryoablation involves threading a tiny metal-tipped catheter through a vein or artery in the leg and into the heart. Doctors guide the catheter through the blood vessel to the heart by using fluoroscopy or X-ray.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated May 8, 2007