Perioperative management of Wolff–Parkinson-White syndrome – A case series

Abstract

Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome is a type of pre-excitation syndromewhere part of cardiac ventricles are activated too early by virtue of an accessory pathway, that directly attaches atria and ventricles, thereby allowing electrical activity to bypass AV node, thus leading to episodes of tachycardia which can be either asymptomatic or may present with dyspnoea on exertion or with palpitation. As it’s a rare condition, we report 3 cases of WPW Syndrome which adds more evidence to the current literature. The anaesthetic management can be challenging and has to be customized to the nature of the surgery and the patient to avoid life-threatening tachyarrhythmias. Perioperative management of WPW syndrome is challenging and requires good pre-operative planning and adequate preparation for intraoperative and post-operative period.