Improvement in non-tachycardia-induced cardiac failure after radiofrequency catheter ablation in a child with a right-sided accessory pathway

A 6-year-old boy was referred for an evaluation of intolerance to physical activity at his elementary school. The patient had no episodes of palpitations. He was diagnosed as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome with a right-sided accessory pathway (AP) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Ventricular dyskinesis was detected mostly in the ventricular septum. Because the asynchronous septal motion caused by pre-excitation through a right-sided AP might deteriorate his cardiac function, he underwent an AP ablation, after which the asynchronous ventricular wall motion disappeared and the wall thickness improved. We suggest that an AP ablation may be the treatment of first priority in patients who have DCM-like dyskinesis even without sustained tachyarrhythmias.