Amiodarone in control of sustained tachyarrhythmias in children with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

Oral amiodarone was administered to ten children aged 3 months to 15 years who had recurrent SVT associated with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. In nine patients, amiodarone was used following failure of oral digoxin, quinidine, propranolol, and verapamil. Each patient received an oral loading dose of 10 to 15 mg/kg followed by 5 mg/kg daily. All children became asymptomatic of tachyarrhythmias within five days of therapy and remained asymptomatic for 5 to 36 months. In one patient, amiodarone therapy was discontinued because of generalized urticaria after a positive initial response. After high-dose oral verapamil failed to eliminate recurrent bouts of SVT, the patient was again given amiodarone and he had a complete recovery. All ten children had normal results on thyroid function tests, and no other adverse effects were detected. Amiodarone has been shown to be highly effective and well tolerated in this series of children. Therefore, we recommend its use for the control and prevention of sustained arrhythmias in pediatric patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome when the traditional antiarrhythmic drugs fail.