Does medical management improve outcomes in a neonate with fetal presentation of Long QT syndrome?
Fetal and neonatal presentation of Long QT syndrome with torsades de pointes can be successfully treated with medical management despite a typically poor prognosis.
This report describes a fetus presenting with intrauterine tachycardia and hydrops fetalis. Soon after birth the neonate was noted to be in torsades de pointes that responded dramatically to medical management. Long QT syndrome (LQTS) was diagnosed on electrocardiogram obtained soon after birth. The prognosis is poor when LQTS presents in utero or during the first week of life. However, our infant did well with medical management and has remained free of arrhythmias at follow-up.
Komarlu et al. (2011) studied this question.