After half a century of major progress in congenital heart disease management, atrioventricular conduction block continues to complicate 1-3% of surgical procedures. Unless treated with an implanted pacemaker, permanent postoperative heart block is associated with 28-100% mortality. Postoperative heart block often proves to be transient, typically resolving within 10 days of onset. The duration...

The development of complete heart block is described in a patient with polymyositis. The implantation of a permanent pacemaker has controlled the heart block, but the progression of the underlying disease despite treatment with relatively high dosage of corticosteroids makes the outlook uncertain.

The technique of recording His bundle electrograms in man by a tripolar electrode catheter was applied in a study of patients with first, second, and third-degree heart block. In all patients with first-degree heart block (congenital, acquired, or induced by atrial pacing), the delay in A-V conduction occurred proximal to the His bundle as evidenced by a prolonged P-H interval. The enhancement ...

Complete heart block is a conduction disorder characterized by a random relationship between the atrial and the ventricular activation where the atrial impulses are not conducted to the ventricle. The incidence of complete heart block (CHB) is estimated to be 1 in 15,000 to 20,000 live births [1]. It may be congenital or acquired. The acquired variety is rare during pregnancy as this type is mo...

Atrioventricular block may occur in various acute and chronic diseases pertaining to the myocardium, or the structures surrounding, or in close proximity to the A-V node,' bundle and bundle branches. When atrio-ventricular conduction is disrupted the ventricles are activated by distal pacemakers. Complete heart block usually results in some degree of cardiac insufficiency, manifested as a reduc...

The normal fetal heart shows variation in rate and rhythm. Twenty three cases that fell outside the normal patterns of variation of heart rate and rhythm were evaluated by echocardiography. Ten showed atrial or ventricular extrasystoles and these were not associated with perinatal morbidity or mortality. Seven cases showed complete heart block, two in association with structural cardiac abnorma...