CARDIAC MEMORY IN PATIENTS WITH INTERMITTENT WOLFF-PARKINSON-WHITE-SYNDROME

This study used body surface mapping to evaluate the ventricular repol arization process in the absence of delta waves in 13 patients with th e intermittent Wolf-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. The findings were compared with data from 30 normal individuals and 50 patients with the overt WPW syndrome. The QRST isointegral maps of patients with the ov ert WPW syndrome exhibited abnormal areas and the QRST departure maps showed a peculiar distribution to each accessory pathway site. The QRS T isointegral map exhibited. abnormal areas in 11 of the 17 cases (85% ) of the intermittent WPW syndrome in the absence of delta waves. In 8 of these 11 cases (73%), the distribution of the departure map resemb led that in the overt WPW syndrome. These findings suggest that abnorm al ventricular repolarization due to cardiac memory is present in pati ents with the intermittent WPW syndrome even in the absence of delta w aves.