The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 81, 691-697, Copyright © 1981 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Bedside evaluation of postoperative sinus node function in children
SM Yabek, BF Akl, W Berman Jr, JF Neal and T Dillon
Sinus node dysfunction in children frequently results from the surgical
correction of congenital heart defects. We evaluated postoperative sinus
node function at the bedside in 25 children by utilizing atrial epicardial
electrodes which were placed near the sinus node at the time of operation.
Sinoatrial conduction times (SACTs) and corrected sinus node recovery times
(CSNRTs) were determined within 3 days of operation in each patient. Group
1 consisted of 20 patients (aged 1 month to 13 years) with normal
postoperative sinus node function. Mean (+/- SD) SACTs and CSNRTs were 122
+/- 33 msec (range 61 to 187 msec) and 165 +/- 54 msec (range 52 to 253
msec), respectively. Preoperative evaluation of sinus node function during
cardiac catheterization showed that preoperative and postoperative SACTs
and CSNRTs were not significantly different (p greater than 0.05) in any of
nine patients. Group 2 was composed of five children (aged 1 to 14 years)
with postoperative sinus node dysfunction. Three had abnormal SACTs of 230
msec or greater and two children had first-degree sinus node entrance
block. Two patients had prolonged CSNRTs. Electrocardiographic (ECG)
monitoring revealed evidence of sinus node dysfunction in four of the five
patients in Group 2. This report describes a simple and safe means of
evaluating postoperative sinus node function at the bedside. The data are
comparable to those obtained using more conventional methods during cardiac
catheterization.