Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology
-
Supraventricular arrhythmias are often observed in patients before and after atrial septal defect repair. Although several papers report different incidences of sustained supraventricular arrhythmias, postoperative 'incisional' macroreentrant tachycardias have not been systematically investigated. ⋯ Atrial fibrillation remains the most frequent form of arrhythmia before and after surgical closure of atrial septal defects in adulthood, and relates to age at the time of repair and coexisting heart disease. Incisional macroreentrant atrial tachycardia is an identifiable, albeit less common, form of tachycardia, which can be treated by transcatheter ablation.