title: Arrhythmias in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
abstract: Cardiac arrhythmias are important contributors to morbidity and mortality in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Such patients manifest a substrate resulting from altered autonomics, repolarization abnormalities, and ischemia. Supraventricular arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation and flutter are associated with worsened outcomes, and maintenance of sinus rhythm is a goal. Sudden death is a relatively common issue, though the contribution of malignant ventricular arrhythmias versus bradyarrhythmias differs from non-PAH patients. Congenital heart disease patients with PAH benefit from catheter ablation of medically refractory arrhythmias. Clinical studies of defibrillator/pacemaker therapy for primary prevention against sudden death in PAH patients are lacking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology, Danbury Hospital, Danbury, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Archana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajdev
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Garan
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biviano
mesh_terms: D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000379:methods; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control; D065627:Familial Primary Pulmonary Hypertension; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology