Introduction
Since the first reports in the early nineties, catheter ablation has become the first therapeutic choice for re-entrant arrhythmias in children and adolescents (1-3). Pediatric literature demonstrates a long-term success rate of 95% (4), equivalent to that of the adult patients (5-9). Some of the factors leading to prolonged procedures, procedural failure, or recurrence of arrhythmias in the young age group have been briefly discussed (10,11).
The aim of the present study was to investigate the incidence and underlying reasons for failure or recurrence of accessory pathway catheter ablations and determine which inherent patient’s or procedural characteristics are associated with high risk of recurrence. The initial and repeated procedures were compared in terms of techniques and strategies to help understand what may have determined failure or recurrence, and the contributions and strategies resulting in a long-term success.