Intracardiac defibrillator application in a 14-year old case with thalassemia major, in whom ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia episodes were determined

Major causes of morbidity and mortality in children with thalassemia major are dysrhythmias and heart failure. Heart failure based on cardiac iron accumulation is seen quite often; whereas, dysrhythmias due to cardiac arrest is rare. The most common cardiac pathology is dilated cardiomyopathy with restrictive feature, and common dysrhythmia is atrial fibrillation. Ventricular dysrhythmias in adult patients with serious ion load have also been reported, but no study on the incidence of ventricular dysrhythmias in pediatric patients could have been found. It was the objective of the present study to emphasize that ventricular fibrillation and/or ventricular tachycardia could develop in children with thalassemia major by presenting a 14-year-old male patient, who was followed for thalassemia major presenting with ventricular fibrillation, whose bolter recordings identified ventricular tachycardia which was uncontrolled by medical therapy, and on whom intracardiac defibrillator therapy was performed.