Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is defined as?

Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is defined as?

• A. An abnormal accessory electrical conduction pathway between the atria and ventricles, potentially causing supraventricular tachycardia (SVT)
• B. A complete heart block due to AV node disease
• C. Severe aortic stenosis
• D. Dilated cardiomyopathy

Answer: (A)

An abnormal accessory conduction pathway between the atria and ventricles that bypasses the AV node is what defines Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. This extra pathway allows impulses to reach the ventricles early, causing pre-excitation and creating a substrate for reentrant supraventricular tachycardias. Clinically and on ECG, you see a short PR interval with a delta wave and a widened QRS during pre-excitation, reflecting the premature ventricular activation. This condition explains why rapid atrial rhythms can translate into very fast ventricular rates via the accessory pathway. The other listed conditions are different heart diseases—complete heart block involves failure of AV conduction, severe aortic stenosis is a valvular problem, and dilated cardiomyopathy is a myocardial condition—so they do not describe WPW.

An abnormal accessory conduction pathway between the atria and ventricles that bypasses the AV node is what defines Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. This extra pathway allows impulses to reach the ventricles early, causing pre-excitation and creating a substrate for reentrant supraventricular tachycardias. Clinically and on ECG, you see a short PR interval with a delta wave and a widened QRS during pre-excitation, reflecting the premature ventricular activation. This condition explains why rapid atrial rhythms can translate into very fast ventricular rates via the accessory pathway. The other listed conditions are different heart diseases—complete heart block involves failure of AV conduction, severe aortic stenosis is a valvular problem, and dilated cardiomyopathy is a myocardial condition—so they do not describe WPW.