Incessant focal atrial tachycardia: a surgically remediable cause of cardiomyopathy.

Following electrophysiological study and intraoperative mapping, an 11-year-old girl with incessant automatic atrial tachycardia and clinical features of congestive cardiomyopathy underwent successful surgical excision of an ectopic focus localized to the right atrial appendage. Dramatic clinical improvement resulted, and echocardiographic indices of left ventricular function returned to normal over a 1 year follow-up period.