title: Asymptomatic ventricular premature depolarizations are not necessarily benign.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Most patients with idiopathic ventricular premature depolarizations (VPDs) complain of symptoms related to this arrhythmia, but some patients are asymptomatic even with a high VPD burden. Our understanding of the relationship between symptoms and cardiomyopathy related to this arrhythmia remains limited.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We evaluated 801 subjects (381 men; mean age, 55 ± 17 years) who visited our outpatient clinic. All subjects were diagnosed with frequent VPDs (1% or >1000 beats/day). The patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of typical VPD symptoms (palpitations or skipped beats during VPDs): symptomatic patients (n = 455) and asymptomatic patients (n = 346). Clinical and electrocardiogram parameters were compared between these two groups. In the symptomatic group, palpitations were the most frequent symptom (91%). Daily VPD burden (P = 0.90) and electrocardiogram parameters (P>0.05) did not differ significantly between groups. The incidence of frequent VPDs with left ventricular dysfunction was significantly higher in the asymptomatic group (symptomatic patients, 3.0%; asymptomatic patients, 10.5%; P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The absence of typical VPD-related symptoms may be a risk factor for cardiomyopathy and be associated with an adverse outcome.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea kyongmin.park@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kyoung-Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Il
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Im
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang Jin
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Kyung
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: June Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Keun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: On
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013318:Stroke Volume; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018879:Ventricular Premature Complexes / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*
keywords: Arrhythmia; Cardiomyopathy; Ventricular premature depolarization