SIGNIFICANCE OF VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS IN SYSTEMIC HYPERTENSION WITHLEFT-VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY

Citation
Sd. Pringle et al., SIGNIFICANCE OF VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS IN SYSTEMIC HYPERTENSION WITHLEFT-VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY, The American journal of cardiology, 69(9), 1992, pp. 913-917
Citations number
30
ISSN journal
00029149
Volume
69
Issue
9
Year of publication
1992
Pages
913 - 917
Database
ISI
SICI code
0002-9149(1992)69:9<913:SOVAIS>2.0.ZU;2-N
Abstract
Hypertensive patients with the electrocardiographic (ECG) pattern of l eft ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and strain are at increased risk of s udden death. It has been suggested that ventricular arrhythmias may be responsible. The prevalence and significance of ventricular arrhythmi as was therefore studied in 90 hypertensive patients with LV hypertrop hy and strain by undertaking 48-hour ambulatory ECG monitoring, ECG si gnal-averaging and programmed ventricular stimulation. Complex ventric ular ectopic activity (Lown grade greater-than-or-equal-to 3) was dete cted in 59 patients (66%). Eleven patients (12%) had episodes of nonsu stained ventricular tachycardia. There were no sustained arrhythmias e ither on ambulatory ECG monitoring or induced by programmed ventricula r stimulation. Only 1 patient had ventricular late potentials recorded by the signal-averaged electrocardiogram. Therefore, there was little to suggest an underlying arrhythmogenic substrate in these patients. In conclusion, whereas ventricular arrhythmias occur often in patients with LV hypertrophy associated with systemic hypertension, their sign ificance, if any, remains to be established.