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Atrial fibrillation with neonatal pulmonary lymphangiectasia
Author(s) -
Estlin EJ,
Bennett MK,
Skinner JR,
Milligan DWA,
Wren C
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1998.tb00957.x
Subject(s) - medicine , atrial fibrillation , cardiology , digoxin , atrial tachycardia , tachycardia , heart failure , catheter ablation
A female infant born at 28 weeks' gestation was found to have mild hydrops foetalis. Initial echocardiography showed a structurally normal heart. During the first week of life, episodic atrial tachycardia with 1:1 or 2:1 conduction was seen, requiring therapy with digoxin. The infant remained ventilator dependent, with a persistent, chylous pleural effusion which contained a preponderance of lymphocytes. Congenital pulmonary lymphangiectasia (CPL) was confirmed histologically. Worsening episodes of atrial tachycardia, including episodes of atrial fibrillation, were further investigated and a repeat echocardiogram revealed thickening of the entire right atrial wall. The cardiac findings of a thickened right atrial wall with the histological signs of myocarditis were thought to be the cause of paroxysms of atrial fibrillation, an extremely rare arrhythmia in the neonatal period. To the authors' knowledge there have been no previous reports of CPL in association with the cardiac abnormalities described herein.