Prediction of Fatal or Near-fatal Cardiac Arrhythmia Events in Patients with Depressed Left Ventricular Function After an Acute Myocardial Infarction

Overview

Journal Eur Heart J

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialty Cardiology & Vascular Diseases

Date 2009 Jan 22

PMID 19155249

Citations 76

Authors

Heikki V Huikuri

M J Pekka Raatikainen

Rikke Moerch-Joergensen

Juha Hartikainen

Vesa Virtanen

Jean Boland

Olli Anttonen

Nis Hoest

Lucas V A Boersma

Eivind S Platou

Marc D Messier

Poul-Erik Bloch-Thomsen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Aims: To determine whether risk stratification tests can predict serious arrhythmic events after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF < or = 0.40).

Methods And Results: A total of 5869 consecutive patients were screened in 10 European centres, and 312 patients (age 65 +/- 11 years) with a mean LVEF of 31 +/- 6% were included in the study. Heart rate variability/turbulence, ambient arrhythmias, signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG), T-wave alternans, and programmed electrical stimulation (PES) were performed 6 weeks after AMI. The primary endpoint was ECG-documented ventricular fibrillation or symptomatic sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT). To document these arrhythmic events, the patients received an implantable ECG loop-recorder. There were 25 primary endpoints (8.0%) during the follow-up of 2 years. The strongest predictors of primary endpoint were measures of heart rate variability, e.g. hazard ratio (HR) for reduced very-low frequency component (<5.7 ln ms(2)) adjusted for clinical variables was 7.0 (95% CI: 2.4-20.3, P < 0.001). Induction of sustained monomorphic VT during PES (adjusted HR = 4.8, 95% CI, 1.7-13.4, P = 0.003) also predicted the primary endpoint.

Conclusion: Fatal or near-fatal arrhythmias can be predicted by many risk stratification methods, especially by heart rate variability, in patients with reduced LVEF after AMI.

Citing Articles

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Incidentally Induced Atrial Fibrillation During Programmed Electrical Stimulation in Patients With Depressed Left Ventricular Systolic Function After an Acute Myocardial Infarction.

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