Pediatric Reports (Sep 2018)

Recurrent supraventricular tachycardia and necrotizing enterocolitis: A causative role or a simple association? A case report and literature review

  • Ghassan Nakib,
  • Sameer Sajwani,
  • Zahreddin Abusalah,
  • Abdelazeim Abdallah,
  • Nada Ibrahim,
  • Aseel Fattah,
  • Rossana Bussani,
  • Valeria Calcaterra,
  • Gloria Pelizzo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4081/pr.2018.7636
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 3

Abstract

Read online

Insufficiency in mesenteric flow is a risk factor for the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Recurrent episodes of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) can lead to gut ischemia, with subsequent reperfusion injury. We present a term infant who developed NEC at 37 days of life after refractory SVT and reverted to sinus rhythm on day 23 and 25 of life. Resected stenotic ileum and transverse colon demonstrated inflammation with ischemia. This is the first case of NEC following SVT in a term infant without a congenital morphologic abnormality. In view of the temporal sequence of events, and in the absence of other risk factors for NEC, the SVT and NEC were likely causally related.

Keywords