Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome A Stepwise Deterioration to Sudden Death

Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome can be associated with a malignant arrhythmia resulting in sudden death. Symptomatic patients have an estimated risk reported to be ≈0.25% per year, or 3% to 4% over a lifetime.1 In 1979, Klein et al2 reported 31 patients with WPW who had resuscitated ventricular fibrillation. During electrophysiological study, 25 of these patients had induction of atrial fibrillation that conducted rapidly via the accessory pathway. This finding supported the theory that rapid preexcited atrial fibrillation may result in ventricular fibrillation and sudden death. An …