Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Pediatrics

Introduction and aim of work: Congenital Atrioventricular (AV) block is a rare condition, with an estimated incidence of 1 case in 20,000 births. Current data show that approximately two-thirds of these patients will have a pacemaker placed before reaching adulthood. Aim of work: We aim in this study to evaluate patients with congenital complete heart block (CHB) and structurally normal heart before and after cardiac pacing. Methods and results: The study included 53 patients with congenital CHB (with ages ranging from 3months to 13.3 years with a median age of 3years) who presented between Januray 2007 and December 2017. Patients were evaluated using 12 leads ECG, 24 hours Holter monitoring & transthoracic echocardiography. 37 of the studied patients underwent permanent pacemaker insertion while 16 patients are still under follow up. The most common indication for cardiac pacing was that the minimum heart rate was less than 40 bpm in [25 patients (67.5%)] followed by the presence of frequent pauses noted in the Holter recordings and detection of LVD in routine transthoracic echo studies [in 5 cases (13.5%) for each] and[ 2 patients with failure to thrive(5.5)]. The mode of pacing was single chamber (ventricular) with rate responsive (VVIR mode) in all cases

Issued also as CD