title: Determinants of inducible ventricular tachycardia in patients with clinical ventricular tachyarrhythmia and no apparent structural heart disease.
abstract: Thirty-seven patients with symptomatic ventricular tachyarrhythmia and no apparent structural heart disease were evaluated with multiple cardiovascular tests to establish the relationship between the results of programmed electric stimulation and other clinical and arrhythmia variables. Of 37 patients, 12 (32%) had inducible sustained ventricular tachycardia. Factors associated with the results of programmed electric stimulation included a history of ventricular tachycardia > or = 30 seconds requiring intervention for termination and global right heart abnormality documented by echocardiography. During treatment for a mean follow-up of 50 months, 29 patients did well, 6 patients had recurrences of major arrhythmia symptoms, 1 was lost to follow-up and 1 had a noncardiac death. Those patients with an adverse outcome were more likely to have inducible ventricular tachycardia. Thus certain clinical and echocardiographic data are associated with the results of programmed electric stimulation, which in turn have important prognostic value in this group of patients. Sustained ventricular tachycardia is unlikely to be induced in patients with no evidence of structural heart disease and clinical nonsustained ventricular tachycardia.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange 92668.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Brodsky
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Orlov
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Winters
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*