The Child Opportunity Index is an index of 29 indicators of social determinants of health linked to the United States of America Census. Disparities in the treatment of Wolff–Parkinson–White have not be reported. We hypothesise that lower Child Opportunity Index levels are associated with greater disease burden (antiarrhythmic use, ablation success, and Wolff–Parkinson–White recurrence) and ablation utilisation.

A retrospective, single-centre study was performed with Wolff–Parkinson–White patients who received care from January 2021 to July 2023. Following exclusion for <5 years old and with haemodynamically significant CHD, 267 patients were included (45% high, 30% moderate, and 25% low Child Opportunity Index). Multi-level logistic and log-linear regression was performed to assess the relationship between Child Opportunity Index levels and outcomes.

Low patients were more likely to be Black (p < 0.0001) and to have public insurance (p = 0.0006), though, there were no significant differences in ablation utilisation (p = 0.44) or time from diagnosis to ablation (p = 0.37) between groups. There was an inverse relationship with emergency department use (p = 0.007). The low group had 2.8 times greater odds of having one or more emergency department visits compared to the high group (p = 0.004).

The Child Opportunity Index was not related with ablation utilisation, while there was an inverse relationship in emergency department use. These findings suggest that while social determinants of health, as measured by Child Opportunity Index, may influence emergency department utilisation, they do not appear to impact the overall management and procedural timing for Wolff–Parkinson–White treatment.

Alternate electrocardiogram acquisition with fewer leads lacks systematic evaluation in children. This study aims to determine if electrocardiograms with fewer leads maintain diagnostic accuracy in paediatrics.

This is a single-centre review of 200 randomly selected standard 12-lead electrocardiograms from our hospital database (2017–2020) for patients aged 2 weeks to 21 years. An overlay technique generated 8-lead (limb + V1/V6) and 6-lead (limb only) variations of the 12-lead tracings, resulting in a total of 600 electrocardiograms, which were then interpreted by two independent paediatric electrophysiologists.

In total, 18% (35/200) of the baseline electrocardiograms were abnormal. Intervals were measured in lead II for all electrocardiograms. Comparing 12-lead to 6- and 8-lead electrocardiograms, there was almost perfect agreement for specific rhythm identification (97.5–100%, κ 0.85-1). The 8-lead showed substantial agreement with 12-lead electrocardiograms when identifying specific electrocardiogram patterns (97.5–100%, κ 0.66–1). A similar degree of agreement was not demonstrated with the 6-lead variant. Utilising the 12-lead electrocardiogram as the gold standard, sensitivity and specificity of the 8- and 6-lead electrocardiogram were > 89% for specific rhythm identification. Specificity for specific pattern recognition was > 99% while sensitivity was < 90% for certain variables for both 6- and 8-lead electrocardiogram, likely due to smaller sample size and fewer abnormal electrocardiograms. There was high percent reader agreement (92.5–100%).

8-lead electrocardiograms provide comparable diagnostic accuracy to 12-lead electrocardiograms for children. This information holds potential for future technological advancements in electrocardiogram acquisition tailored specifically for paediatrics. Additional studies are required to further refine conventional electrocardiogram acquisition.

Many children diagnosed with COVID-19 infections did not require hospitalisation. Our objective was to analyse electrocardiographic changes in children with asymptomatic, mild or moderate COVID-19 who did not require hospitalisation

All children are seen in a paediatric cardiology clinic who had asymptomatic, mild or moderate COVID-19 that did not require hospitalisation and had at least one electrocardiogram after their diagnosis were included in this retrospective analysis. Records were reviewed to determine COVID-19 disease severity and presence of Long COVID. Rhythm assessment, atrial enlargement, ventricular hypertrophy, PR/QRS/QT interval duration and ST-T wave abnormalities were analysed by a paediatric electrophysiologist. Clinically ordered echocardiograms were reviewed for signs of myopericarditis (left ventricular ejection fraction and pericardial effusion) on any subject with an electrocardiographic abnormality.

Of the 82 children meeting inclusion criteria (14.4 years, range 1–18 years, 57% male), 17 patients (21%) demonstrated electrocardiographic changes. Ten patients (12%) had electrocardiogram of borderline significance, which included isolated mild PR prolongation or mild repolarisation abnormalities. The other seven patients (9%) had concerning electrocardiographic findings consisting of more significant repolarisation abnormalities. None of the patients with an abnormal electrocardiogram revealed any echocardiographic abnormality. All abnormal electrocardiograms normalised over time except in two cases. Across the entire cohort, greater COVID-19 disease severity and long COVID were not associated with electrocardiographic abnormalities.

Electrocardiographic abnormalities are present in a minority of children with an asymptomatic, mild or moderate COVID-19 infection. Many of these changes resolved over time and no evidence of myopericarditis was present on echocardiography.