an excellent paper1 on the operative treatment of spasmodic torticollis, give the following-summary of conclusions :? i. Palliative treatment, whether by drugs, apparatus, or electricity, will rarely prove successful in well-established spasmodic torticollis.

Critical pathways, developed for utilisation in the health sector, are tools that are increasingly being used to implement co-ordinated patient care. The introduction of critical pathways results in planned progress through an episode of care, whilst optimising health outcomes and minimising resource utilisation. The advantages of implementing critical pathways are increasingly evident, with re...

Catheter ablation is an established curative treatment for accessory pathways (APs), but in spite of the great progress made in the diagnosis and treatment, there is limited knowledge of the underlying cellular pathophysiology that determines the different clinical presentations. The case presented highlights the complex presentation and properties of some APs that can be encountered at the tim...

SUMMARY Serial histologic sections of the atrioventricular (A-V) conduction system were studied in four hearts with persistent common A-V canal, and the anatomic findings were related to the abnormal ECG pattems. Two hearts were examples of the partial form and two of the complete form of A-V canal. The major anatomic abnormalities were: (1) postero-inferior displacement of the A-V node; (2) re...

This report describes a family with frequent recurrence of congenital heart disease in multiple generations. Eight members had atrial septal defect (ASD) of the fossa ovalis type and seven members had other forms of congenital heart disease. One branch of the pedigree showed a predominance of ASD with prolonged atrioventricular (A-V) conduction and initially suggested an autosomal dominant gene...

A 67-year-old man with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome type A presented with second degree atrioventricular block in anomalous pathway and complete infra-Hisian block in the His-Purkinje pathway. He had increasingly frequent attacks of dizziness not related to exercise. A permanent ventricular demand pacemaker was successfully implanted following intracardiac electrophysiological studies.

Sequence of retrograde atrial activation is not a reliable criterion for the classification of atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT) into typical and atypical types. The conventional concept of a lower common pathway is not supported by current evidence and does not represent a reliable or reproducible criterion. The distinction between 'fast-slow' and 'slow-slow' forms is not u...

We describe a case of a young man referred with a broad complex tachycardia for evaluation and ablation. Electrophysiological study was performed and revealed a left lateral accessory pathway with antegrade decremental conduction causing antidromic reciprocating re-entrant tachycardia. Ablation was successfully performed. Left lateral accessory pathways with decremental conduction are rarely en...

Background. The developmental mechanisms underlying the