title: Late arrhythmic events and patency of the infarct-related coronary artery in survivors of acute myocardial infarction.
abstract: In the present study we evaluated the influence of intravenous thrombolysis and patency of the infarct-related coronary artery on both markers of ventricular electrical instability and incidence of late arrhythmic events after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Ninety one patients surviving a first AMI who consecutively performed coronary angiography were enrolled in the present study; 44 patients (48%) received thrombolysis, 47 patients (52%) were treated conventionally. Of 91 patients, 90 (99%) had signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG), and 40 (44%) programmed ventricular stimulation. No significant difference was observed between thrombolytic-treated and control group in late potential rate, SAECG determinants and ventricular arrhythmia inducibility. Of 91 patients, 40 (44%) had occlusion of the infarct-related artery: of these, 15 (37%) had late potentials compared with 5 of 51 patients (9%) with a patent artery (p < 0.01). Mean left ventricular ejection fraction was not significantly different between the two groups (0.50 +/- 0.15 vs 0.55 +/- 0.12; p = NS). No significant difference was present between the two groups of patients with regard to inducibility of sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias, however an odds ratio of 3.5 was observed in the group with a closed vessel.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Clinica del Lavoro, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Centro Medico di Tradate, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Carú
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pedretti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonelli
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Etro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laporta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gementi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Casucci
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy; D014654:Vascular Patency / Q000502:physiology*