Incidence of Sudden Death among Patients with Premature Ventricular Contractions : An Epidemiological Study

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It has been previously shown that among patients with premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) there is a high risk of sudden death (SD). This study was designed to assess whether any electrocardiographic pattern of PVCs was associated with an increased risk of SD. Moreover, among patients with PVCs the influence of the different coronary risk factors on the incidence of SD was also studied.Two-hundred and thirty-two patients admitted to our hospital during a period of 3 years, who presented PVCs in the electrocardiogram on admission were followed for at least 30 months. Among these patients there were 47 SD. A higher incidence of SD has been found among patients with RR of less than 360 msec (35.7% as compared with 18%, p<0.05). Among the coronary risk factors, only obesity increased the risk of SD (32.7% in obese patients as compared with 15.9% in nonobese patients, p<0.01).Furthermore, the simultaneous presence of high serum cholesterol level and high blood pressure was accompanied with an increased risk of SD (35.6% as compared with 18.0%, p<0.05). The risk was even higher when obesity was also present.The results of this study do indicate the importance of PVCs and of some of the coronary risk factors in predicting an increased risk of SD, therefore suggesting a careful survey and medical or dietary control of these factors in the hope to decrease the risk of this event.
International Heart Journal刊行会の論文