The Prognosis of the Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome

prognosis of the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (characterized by White et al.1 essentially as: (1) a short P-R interval, (2) prolonged and deformed QRS complexes, (3) normal P-J interval, and a tendency to paroxysmal tachycardia) benign. However, in reviewing the literature there is con-siderable evidence to show that such is not always the case. Although this condition is frequently found on routine electrocardiographic study of pa-tients with no cardiac complaints or physical abnormalities, it is often found in persons who have had cardiac complaints for many years. The chief com-plaint is palpitation and tachycardia, the latter being paroxysmal tachycardia of auricular, nodal or ventricular origin. Occasionally, other evidences of heart disease are found, which are often coincidental. If the paroxysmal tachycardia does not occur too often or last too long the prognosis is good, but in some patients the syndrome has resulted in death. In other instances, patients with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syn-drome have met with a cardiac type of death although the exact mechanism