Symptomatic sustained ventricular tachycardia is a life threatening arrhythmia requiring
prompt treatment. However, the risk associated with asymptomatic nonsustained ventricular
tachycardia (NSVT) detected on routine permanent pacemaker (PPM) interrogation in
patients with known cardiac conduction disease is unknown. Our aim is to determine
if asymptomatic NSVT detected on PPM interrogation is associated with increased mortality.
As part of a prospective observational cohort study, 582 patients with long-term pacemakers
were recruited at a tertiary cardiac centre, and followed for 4 ± 1.96 years (mean
± standard deviation). At each subsequent pacemaker check, any symptoms and ventricular
high-rate episodes were recorded. We excluded 17 patients due to incomplete data.
In the remaining 565 patients (57% male, age 74.5 ± 19.2 years, left ventricular ejection
fraction 50.0 ± 11.3%), NSVT was found in 125 (22.1%) patients with a higher prevalence
in males (65% vs 54%; p = 0.033). Those with NSVT were more likely to have had coronary
artery disease (p = 0) or previous myocardial infarction (p = 0.015). After correction
for baseline variables, NSVT had no impact on survival (n = 52 [42%] vs n = 162 [37%];
log-rank p = 0.331, hazard ratio: 0.927, 95% confidence interval: 0.678 to 1.268,
p = 0.697). In conclusion, asymptomatic NSVT identified on PPM interrogation does
not appear to be associated with increased mortality, thus whether treatment to suppress
this arrhythmia is of benefit remains unproven.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 06, 2018
Received in revised form:
October 24,
2018
Received:
September 3,
2018
Footnotes
See page 413 for disclosure information.
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Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
