Ninety five patients with a mean age of 39 +/- 19 years, 82 of whom were symptomatic, having an accessory atrioventricular bidirectional conduction pathway (WPW syndrome: 77; "concealed": 18) were followed up for an average of 7.3 +/- 2.6 years. The objectives were to analyse: the incidence and causes of death and the possible predictive factors of death due to the WPW syndrome--the influence of medical treatment and type of medication on survival and symptoms. Of the 8 cardiac deaths, 6 seemed to be related to the WPW syndrome, a prevalence of 7.8% and an annual incidence of 1.1/1000. The main risk factors which were identified were: age 62 +/- 8 years versus 37 +/- 15 years in survivors; p < 0.02--associated organic heart disease, especially ischaemic heart disease (5/6)--the description of severe symptoms, in particular recurrent syncope--documented malignant spontaneous or induced arrhythmias (5/6)--anterograde AV conduction with an effective refractory period < or = 230 msec in 4, though it was only 270 msec in the other 2 patients, indicating that this parameter is not specific--amiodarone (6/6) did not prevent the fatal outcome in this particular group of patients. In the "benign" forms, only betablocker drugs could significantly reduce the frequency and severity of symptoms, especially when compared with Class I or IC antiarrhythmics. These results suggest that the indications of radical treatment should be widened in high risk patients, especially when elderly and with associated coronary artery disease. They also suggest that the role of betablocker drugs should be reevaluated in the so-called "benign" symptomatic forms.