Introduction
Since the first reports in the early nineties, catheter ablation has
become the first therapeutic choice for re-entrant arrhythmias in
children and adolescents (1-3). Pediatric literature demonstrates a
long-term success rate of 95% (4), equivalent to that of the adult
patients (5-9). Some of the factors leading to prolonged procedures,
procedural failure, or recurrence of arrhythmias in the young age group
have been briefly discussed (10,11).
The aim of the present study was to investigate the incidence and
underlying reasons for failure or recurrence of accessory pathway
catheter ablations and determine which inherent patient’s or procedural
characteristics are associated with high risk of recurrence. The initial
and repeated procedures were compared in terms of techniques and
strategies to help understand what may have determined failure or
recurrence, and the contributions and strategies resulting in a
long-term success.