Paroxysmal Ventricular Tachycardia in Childhood

Paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia is an ectopic cardiac rhythm consisting of a rapid succession of ventricular extrasystoles. Although graphic records in paroxysmal rapid heart action had been made some time earlier¹and Mackenzie²had pointed out that the underlying mechanism in such disturbances is not always the same, Lewis³first differentiated supraventricular tachycardia from tachycardia of ventricular origin by means of electrocardiograms. He was able to produce ventricular tachycardia in experimental animals by coronary ligation.⁴This arrhythmia has subsequently been induced experimentally by a variety of procedures.⁵ Numerous cases of ventricular tachycardia have been reported in the literature, but many do not meet the criteria which seem necessary for this diagnosis. In 1930, Strauss⁶found 65 acceptable cases, while in 1934 Lundy and McLellan⁷considered that only 96 out of a total of 152 cases fulfilled the diagnostic requirements. Robinson and Herrmann⁸pointed