Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

A condition caused by an abnormality in the electrical system of the heart which normally tells the heart muscle when to contract. In Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, there is an extra electrical connection inside the heart that acts as a short circuit, causing the heart to beat too rapidly and sometimes in an irregular manner. The syndrome can be lifethreatening although this is unusual. WPW can be treated by destroying the short circuit using a technique termed radiofrequency catheter ablation in which wires are placed in different places in the heart until the short circuit is found and can be destroyed with radiowaves.

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Wolff-Par·kin·son-White syndrome 'wu̇lf-'pär-kən-sən-'(h)wīt- n an abnormal heart condition characterized by preexcitation of the ventricle and an electrocardiographic tracing with a shortened P-R interval and a widened QRS complex called also WPW syndrome

Wolff Louis (1898-1972)

American cardiologist. Wolff, Parkinson, and White described the syndrome that bears their names in an article published in 1930.

Parkinson Sir John (1885-1976)

British cardiologist. Parkinson served as a cardiologist at the London and National Heart Hospitals and as a consulting cardiologist with the Royal Air Force.

White Paul Dudley (1886-1973)

American cardiologist. White was an international authority on heart disease who gained national celebrity status when he became cardiologist to President Dwight Eisenhower. White maintained lifelong associations with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He was among the first to employ electrocardiograms for the diagnosis of heart disease. He used some 21,000 as the basis for Heart Diseases, a classic text that he published in 1931. He also helped to found the American Heart Association and the International Society of Cardiology. White was an advocate of physical exercise, and in later years he would be credited with helping to plant the seeds for the ensuing increased interest in fitness.

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a congenital abnormality of heart rhythm caused by the presence of an accessory conduction pathway between the atria and ventricles (see atrioventricular bundle). It results in premature excitation of one ventricle and is characterized by an abnormal wave (delta wave) at the start of the QRS complex on the electrocardiogram.

L. Wolff Sir J. Parkinson (1885-1976), British physician; P. D. White (1886-1973), US cardiologist

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the association of paroxysmal tachycardia or atrial fibrillation with preexcitation; the electrocardiogram displays a short P–R interval and a wide QRS complex, usually with an early QRS vector (delta wave). The term is sometimes used synonymously with preexcitation s. Called also WPW s.

Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. (A), Normal sinus rhythm, traveling from the sinoatrial (SA) node to the atrioventricular (AV) node and then down the bundle branches, with physiologic slowing in the AV node (jagged line). (B), In sinus rhythm in WPW syndrome, conduction down the bypass tract (BT) preexcites the ventricles ahead of impulse arrival at the AV node; the PR interval is short and the QRS complex is wide, with slurring at its onset (delta wave). (C), Atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT) in WPW syndrome, caused by spread of the premature atrial beat back up the bypass tract to create a repeating reentrant loop; characterized by a normal QRS complex and a negative P wave in lead II.