BACKGROUND Survivors of aborted sudden death attributable to ventricular arrhythmias in the presence of coronary artery disease are at risk for recurrences. The substrate underlying these arrhythmias is not clear, and therefore the relation between ischemia, viability, scar tissue (and revascularization), and the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias (and survival) was studied over up to 3 years...

Left ventricular systolic dysfunction related to ventricular arrhythmias is a relatively poorly understood entity. To increase our knowledge base, we describe 5 patients in whom the link between ventricular dysfunction and ventricular arrhythmia was unequivocally established. All patients had repetitive monomorphic ventricular arrhythmias and left ventricular systolic dysfunction (ejection frac...

INTRODUCTION Most arrhythmias during centrifuge training are physiological responses to high +Gz stress. However, potentially dangerous arrhythmias occasionally occur during centrifuge training. We reviewed all arrhythmias recorded during the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) centrifuge training from April 2001 to March 2003, and developed a criterion for suspending G-training based on obser...

BACKGROUND Risk prediction of ventricular arrhythmias after myocardial infarction (MI) is still insufficient. Prolonged QTc is a known risk marker of mortality and ventricular arrhythmias. QTc has not achieved clinical importance in predicting arrhythmic events in patients after MI. Recent studies have displayed that the terminal part of the QT-interval, Tpeak to Tend (TpTe), may be a more prom...

OBJECTIVE In patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), intensive treatment with insulin and/or sulfonylurea (SU) may be associated with excessive increased risk of hypoglycemic episodes. To evaluate the risk of critical arrhythmias related to glycemic variability, we carried out an observational study in type 2 diabetes patients with CVD. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Th...

OBJECTIVES It has been reported that patients carrying the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) deletion DD genotype with the angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) C allele are at increased risk for myocardial infarction. The frequency distribution of the ACE and AT1 receptor gene polymorphism and their possible relation regarding malignant ventricular arrhythmias in patients with coronary artery disease ...

Introduction The great arteries are an important source of arrhythmias, including premature ventricular contractions, ventricular tachycardia (VT), atrial tachycardia, and accessory pathways. The source of ventricular arrhythmias is thought to be muscular fibers extending from the outflow tracts to a variable extent above the valves. Ventricular arrhythmias from the aortic cusps exhibit complex...

OBJECTIVES This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of flecainide in addition to conventional drug therapy in patients with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT). BACKGROUND CPVT is an inherited arrhythmia syndrome caused by gene mutations that destabilize cardiac ryanodine receptor Ca(2+) release channels. Sudden cardiac death is incompletely prevented by conventio...

Question Will implantation of defibrillators improve survival in patients with prior myocardial infarction and severely impaired left ventricular function? Design: A prospective, randomised, non-blinded, multicentre, controlled trial of medical therapy versus implanted cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) in patients with severely impaired ventricular function resulting from prior myocardial infarctio...

Electrocardiograms and electrograms were recorded in 18 dogs anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital. Using endocardial and epicardial plunge wire electrodes in normal and ischemic or infarcted areas, activation of Purkinje and regular muscle tissue was studied within the first 20-30 minutes and 24 hours after anterior descending coronary artery ligation. The ventricular arrhythmias in the first...