Relationship between Age and Anterograde Refractoriness of the Accessory Pathway in Wolff-Parkinson-White Patients

Abstract

In 22 patients (age range 13–40 years) with Wolff-Parkinson-White ECG pattern without evidence of associated cardiomyopathy we measured the anterograde effective refractory period of the accessory pathway (ERP-AP) by extrastimulus method (at twice diastolic threshold) during atrial pacing (100/min). The ERP-AP range was 220–480 ms. There was a significant direct correlation between age and ERP-AP (r = 0.50, p