Preexcitation Syndrome and short PR in six year old boy

[bettybaiu]

I am a single mother from Romania. My six year old son saw two cardiologists. The first doctor who read his ECG said he has Preexcitation Syndrome and short PR and recommended cardiac ablation. The other doctor said he has only alternating sinus rhythm and his life in not threatened. I ask you from the bottom of my heart to look at his both ECG’s and give me your opinion. I love him so much, he is only 6 and I am so confused, I simply don’t know what to do. I should mention that only once my son had tachycardia, at least once I noticed. He complains of being tired and sleepy most of the time and is pale. All blood tests were fine. Please help me! I have scanned both the ECG’s and can send them by email. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[Wisconsin2007]

Hi - I'm sorry to hear about your son.  Nothing would make me more worried than to have to be making decisions like this about my children's health.  Just like ptadvoc8, I'm not a doctor, but I do have an interest in cardiological issues and study EKGs almost daily.  If you'd like, you could send your EKG scans to me at jeffsskippyheart[at]yahoo[dot]com.  I'll have a look and see if I can't offer any advice.  But I'll caution you now (and again when I reply to the email), that you should use my advice only to ask more questions of your son's cardiologists, NOT to decide on a course of treatment.

Warmest regards,

Jeff

[bettybaiu]

Thank you so much for your answer. Your explanations seem very complex and helpful. I am going to use the links you gave me for further help. All the best wishes from me!

[bettybaiu]

Thank you so much for your answer. Your explanations seem very complex and helpful. I am going to use the links you gave me for further help. All the best wishes from me!

[PikaPika88]

I got wpw syndrome in very young age too.  According to the doctor said, wpw syndrome could come with when we born.  

My wpw is sometime presented on ECG and sometime will not.  You better keep a copy of ECG that presented with those syndrome so it can give the medical professional a guild line what your son had or being caught before.  If you have any question, please raise it.  Many people come to this forum also have some heart rhythms problem or back ground.  Hope we can help each other.

[ptadvoc8]

First, please note I am NOT a medical professional, but I do have a type of pre-excitation syndrome called WPW. Like your son, I was born with it. I have had episodes of tachycardia all my life, but have never had any major problems from them. I am now over 50 and have lived a happy, exciting and pretty normal life, even though I have this condition. I also have been given different treatment recommendations by different doctors and have seen the treatments available for this condition change drastically over my lifetime.

I'm sorry you are frightened and confused and I wish I could give you some helpful answers, but I think the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias these days, even here in the US, is as much an art as a science and how you treat this condition depends on the severity of symptoms, overall health, needs and wishes of the individual patient as well as the attitude, training, experience and facilities available to the cardiologist. I certainly recommend getting at least two opinions -- which you have already done. Since these two opinions are conflicting and you are obviously concerned, can you possibly see a third cardiologist, one who specializes in arrhythmias? Would it help if you make a decision and feel better if that cardiologist agreed with one or the other of the first two you have seen?

Here in the US ablation is commonly used to treat children with this condition, often with great success, but not all doctors and not all parents think it is appropriate. In Italy they also do many ablations on children. However, there are special techniques and considerations involved in doing an ablation on a child, so you would want to make sure the specialist has experience in treating children. Some doctors recommend not doing ablation treatment for children with this condition until they reach at least 10 - 12 years old as long as they are otherwise healthy and not having a lot of symptoms, while other doctors believe it should be done as young as possible to avoid problems. In the US cryoablation (or freezing) is often considered a safer choice than RF ablation (radio frequency heat) for children.

Something I would consider is whether or not you can take some time before making any decisions about ablation. Did the cardiologist say your son needs the ablation right away? If you can take some time, get more information about your son's diagnosis then maybe it will make your decision easier. I hope it will also help you to know from what I have read, that the majority of children with pre-excitation syndrome do not have life threatening conditions, but do need to be carefully checked and monitored by a good cardiologist.

Lastly, I am not sure you will be able to get a response from any cardiologists on this forum. Most of us here are also patients with heart arrhythmia issues who come together for information and support. There are other forums and other sites where you might actually connect with a cardiologist who could give you more information. If you search go to the Cleveland Clinic site and click the ling for Ask a Nurse, they might be able to help as the Cleveland Clinic is highly respected for it's arrhythmia treatment.

Best Wishes and Good Luck!