Mid-term follow-up of school-aged children with borderline long QT interval

Abstract

Background: There are no definitive diagnostic criteria or follow-up strategies for long QT syndrome (LQTS) in children with a borderline long QT interval (b-LQT). Methods and Results: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical course, genetic testing results, corrected QT interval (QTc), and LQTS score of 59 school-aged children (5–18 years old) with a b-LQT (400≤QTc<500 ms). Syncope, but neither aborted cardiac arrest nor sudden cardiac death, occurred in 2 patients during the follow-up (6±3.4 years) with LQTS scores ≥4.5 points. The genetic testing results were positive in 92%, 57%, and 67% of patients with high, intermediate, and low probabilities of LQTS, respectively. The maximum and mean QTc during the follow-up significantly differed among the categories with a probability of LQTS, but not the minimum QTc. However, the QTc at rest and at the recovery point after exercise stress testing dramatically changed at the last followup. Consequently, the probability of LQTS changed in half of the patients. Conclusions: The LQTS score is a reasonable indicator for evaluating school-aged children with a b-LQT, and patients with a low LQTS score appear to be at low risk for cardiac events. However, the LQTS score can change during follow-up. Therefore, when there is doubt or concern for patients with a b-LQT, it is preferable to continue following them. Guidelines on follow-up strategies are desired for b-LQT.