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. 2020 Oct;43(10):1126-1131.
doi: 10.1111/pace.14043. Epub 2020 Sep 3.

Nonsustained ventricular tachycardia in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Alejandra Gutierrez  1 , Jerry Ash  1 , Baris Akdemir  1 , Tamas Alexy  1 , Rebecca Cogswell  1 , Jane Chen  1 , Selcuk Adabag  2
Affiliations

Nonsustained ventricular tachycardia in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Alejandra Gutierrez et al. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a common arrhythmia in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction but its incidence, predictors, and significance have not been determined in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of arrhythmias in two cohorts of patients with an HFpEF diagnosis. Patients in cohort 1 (n = 40) underwent routine arrhythmia surveillance with a 14-day ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor. Patients in cohort 2 (n = 85) had cardiac pacemakers and underwent routine device interrogations.

Results: In cohort 1, 13 patients (32.5%) had one or more episodes of nonsustained VT (NSVT) on ambulatory ECG. In cohort 2, 38 patients (44.7%) had NSVT on cardiac pacemaker interrogations. During a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 3.0 (1.6 to 5.1) years, 15 (12%) patients died (20% of patients with NSVT versus 6.8% of those without NSVT; P = .03). In logistic regression analysis, NSVT was associated with a 3.4-fold higher odds of death (95% confidence interval 1.08 to 10.53; P = .04) in HFpEF.

Conclusions: In conclusion, patients with HFpEF have a relatively high, and possibly underappreciated, burden of NSVT, which confers a higher risk of mortality. The frequent episodes of NSVT in these patients may provide insight into the mechanism of sudden cardiac death in HFpEF.

Keywords: congestive heart failure; electrophysiology-clinical; ventricular tachycardia.

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References

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