VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS IN ADULT AORTIC-STENOSIS - PREVALENCE, MECHANISMS, AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

With the longer life expectancy of the population, calcific aortic ste nosis has become a common cardiac problem in the elderly. When patient s with moderate to severe aortic stenosis become symptomatic, the prog nosis is usually poor in absence of valve replacement and sudden death is a feared complication. It has been hypothesized that malignant ven tricular arrhythmias could be responsible for the high incidence of su dden death in symptomatic patients with aortic stenosis. The purpose o f this review is to analyze the prevalence, the electrophysiologic mec hanisms, and the possible role of ventricular arrhythmias in the devel opment of symptoms and in the outcome of adult subjects with aortic st enosis.