Newborn with Wolff-Parkinson-White

My little 2 week old child was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome after presenting with SVT at 275 bpm. It was brought under control with digoxin and propranolol, but when they realized it was WPW, they took her off the digoxin.  She has had a couple of episodes since we left the hospital, but we were able to stop them with an ice bag on the face.

Has anyone else dealt with WPW in an infant?  Got any observations or suggestions?

[Chriswpw]

Hi.


First of all congratulations on you new baby girl!!!

I dont know much about infant WPW, but as an adult...I had WPW that was treated by ablation. I was told that I was also born with the WPW but it was never detected. I guess they didn't check for it back in the 70's. I geuss it can be dangerous for some and not for others.......

What are the dr's telling you? Did you have a pediatric cardiologist look at your newborn?

[Jerry_NJ]

Sending my prayers for a "natural" recovery.  I don't know anything specific about WPW in infants, but I do know that it is well understood and responds well to the ablation procedure. In the case of an infant, it may be something they "grow out of", and we all hope that it doesn't take long if that is the case.  

Has you doctor talked about a check by a cardiologist?  It may be time for a specialist.

[huguenot]

She saw some pediatric cardiologists in the hospital.  We are waiting now for an appointment with an electrophysiologist.  I'm praying he has an opening soon --- she had another breakthrough episode last night.  This is awfully nerve-wracking.

[grendslori]

I too, send my congrats on your new baby girl! Your daughter should be followed by a pediatric cardiologist for this arrhythmia problem. Inderal works well in controling this type of arrhythmia. This is a congenital problem so basically everyone who suffers from it actually had it when they were born, but they may not have been aware of it. There is an electrical tract in the heart that the normal electrical impulse travel down from the SA Node to the AV node. In WPW there is another tract that the electrical impulse "jumps over" onto and then it just keeps firing, that is why the rates are so high. Of all of the problems that children are born with in referrance to the heart, this is a problem that is probably one you would want to have, if you had to pick any at all. At some point the EP doctors will do an ablation on your daughter and she should be fine.