[Fulguration of accessory pathways in children. Value of two-dimensional echocardiography].

Six children (4 boys and 2 girls) aged from 3 to 7 years who had an accessory pathway and were suffering from paroxysmal (n = 4) or permanent (n = 2) refractory reciprocating tachycardia underwent transcatheter ablation of the accessory pathway alone in 5 cases and of the normal and accessory pathways in 1 case. Conduction in the accessory pathway was interrupted in 3 cases and sufficiently modified in 2 cases for the attacks of tachycardia to be suppressed by a simple and previously ineffective medical treatment. There was one failure. The authors underline the value of two-dimensional echocardiography in such cases. This technique is useful in the preoperative evaluation, during catheter insertion, and also in the choice of the electrodes to be used, for the ablation itself and in the search for postoperative lesions. Transcatheter ablation seems to be feasible and safe enough to be offered as an alternative to surgery in the treatment of refractory reciprocating tachycardia in children.