Frequent Ventricular Premature Beats in Children and Adolescents: Natural History and Relationship with Sport Activity in a Long-Term Follow-Up. 2020

Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
Pediatric Cardiology Unit, A. Meyer Hospital, Viale Pieraccini 24, 50139, Florence, Italy. giulio.porcedda@meyer.it.

Premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) are frequently documented in children. To date, few studies report long-term follow-up in pediatric cohorts presenting with frequent PVCs. The aim of this study is to assess the clinical relevance and long-term outcomes of frequent PVCs (≥ 500/24 h) in a large pediatric cohort. From 1996 to 2016, we enrolled all consecutive patients evaluated at Anna Meyer Children Hospital for frequent PVCs. Symptomatic children were excluded together with those patients with known underlying heart diseases; thus, our final cohort of study included 103 patients (male 66%; mean age 11 ± 3.4 years), with a mean follow-up of 9.5 ± 5.5 years. All patients were submitted to complete non-invasive cardiologic evaluation. The mean number of PVCs at Holter Monitoring (HM) was 11,479 ± 13,147/24 h; couplets and/or triplets were observed in 5/103 (4.8%) cases; 3 patients (2.9%) presented runs of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT). High-burden PVCs (> 30,000/24 h) was confirmed in 11/103 (10.6%) patients. During the follow-up, only five patients (4.8%) developed clinical symptoms (3 for palpitations, 1 myocardial dysfunction due to frequent PVCs and NTSV; 1 arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy); no deaths occurred. Basal PVCs were still present in 45/103 (43.7%) patients. Our data suggest that frequent PVCs may be addressed as a benign condition and should not preclude sport participation if not associated with cardiac malformations, heart dysfunction, or cardiomyopathy. This seems to be true also in presence of very frequent/high-burden PVCs. Otherwise, a careful follow-up is mandatory since sport eligibility should be reconsidered in case of onset of symptoms and/or ECG/echocardiographic changes.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D004452 Echocardiography Ultrasonic recording of the size, motion, and composition of the heart and surrounding tissues. The standard approach is transthoracic. Echocardiography, Contrast,Echocardiography, Cross-Sectional,Echocardiography, M-Mode,Echocardiography, Transthoracic,Echocardiography, Two-Dimensional,Transthoracic Echocardiography,2-D Echocardiography,2D Echocardiography,Contrast Echocardiography,Cross-Sectional Echocardiography,Echocardiography, 2-D,Echocardiography, 2D,M-Mode Echocardiography,Two-Dimensional Echocardiography,2 D Echocardiography,Cross Sectional Echocardiography,Echocardiography, 2 D,Echocardiography, Cross Sectional,Echocardiography, M Mode,Echocardiography, Two Dimensional,M Mode Echocardiography,Two Dimensional Echocardiography
D005260 Female Females
D005500 Follow-Up Studies Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease. Followup Studies,Follow Up Studies,Follow-Up Study,Followup Study,Studies, Follow-Up,Studies, Followup,Study, Follow-Up,Study, Followup
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D013177 Sports Activities or games, usually involving physical effort or skill. Reasons for engagement in sports include pleasure, competition, and/or financial reward. Athletics,Athletic,Sport
D015331 Cohort Studies Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics. Birth Cohort Studies,Birth Cohort Study,Closed Cohort Studies,Cohort Analysis,Concurrent Studies,Historical Cohort Studies,Incidence Studies,Analysis, Cohort,Cohort Studies, Closed,Cohort Studies, Historical,Studies, Closed Cohort,Studies, Concurrent,Studies, Historical Cohort,Analyses, Cohort,Closed Cohort Study,Cohort Analyses,Cohort Studies, Birth,Cohort Study,Cohort Study, Birth,Cohort Study, Closed,Cohort Study, Historical,Concurrent Study,Historical Cohort Study,Incidence Study,Studies, Birth Cohort,Studies, Cohort,Studies, Incidence,Study, Birth Cohort,Study, Closed Cohort,Study, Cohort,Study, Concurrent,Study, Historical Cohort,Study, Incidence
D015716 Electrocardiography, Ambulatory Method in which prolonged electrocardiographic recordings are made on a portable tape recorder (Holter-type system) or solid-state device ("real-time" system), while the patient undergoes normal daily activities. It is useful in the diagnosis and management of intermittent cardiac arrhythmias and transient myocardial ischemia. Ambulatory Electrocardiography,Electrocardiography, Dynamic,Electrocardiography, Holter,Holter ECG,Holter EKG,Holter Monitoring,Monitoring, Ambulatory Electrocardiographic,Monitoring, Holter,Ambulatory Electrocardiography Monitoring,Dynamic Electrocardiography,Electrocardiography Monitoring, Ambulatory,Holter Electrocardiography,Ambulatory Electrocardiographic Monitoring,ECG, Holter,ECGs, Holter,EKG, Holter,EKGs, Holter,Electrocardiographic Monitoring, Ambulatory,Holter ECGs,Holter EKGs,Monitoring, Ambulatory Electrocardiography

Related Publications

Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
August 1987, European heart journal,
Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
January 2015, Kardiologia polska,
Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
August 2021, European journal of preventive cardiology,
Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
September 2015, Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland),
Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
August 2022, European heart journal. Cardiovascular Imaging,
Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
September 2018, The journal of headache and pain,
Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
October 2006, Acta cardiologica,
Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
October 2010, Pediatric cardiology,
Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
October 2020, Current opinion in allergy and clinical immunology,
Giulio Porcedda, and Alice Brambilla, and Silvia Favilli, and Gaia Spaziani, and Giuseppe Mascia, and Marzia Giaccardi
January 2009, Journal of the American College of Cardiology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!