Syndrome of Short P-R Interval With Abnormal QRS Complexes and Paroxysmal Tachycardia

In 1930 Wolff, Parkinson and White1described for the first time a syndrome characterized by an abnormal and distinctive type of electrocardiogram presented by healthy young people prone to paroxysmal tachycardia. Since then, more than two hundred articles on this syndrome have appeared in the literature. Most of these are reports of 1 or several cases, or deal with the mechanism of the abnormal electrocardiogram2or with that of paroxysmal tachycardia,3based on electrocardiographic analysis,3bthe action of drugs,4animal experimental investigation5and histologic study in animals and man.6Two extensive reviews of the literature have been published.7There has, however, been little of a follow-up nature. In addition to the 11 cases reported in our original communication,1we have seen 41 new cases, making a total of 52. CLINICAL DATA The clinical and electrocardiographic data of the new series are presented in table 1. There were 28