Turk Kardiyol Dern Ars. 2005; 33(6): 331-340

Classification of patients with ventricular tachycardia according to etiological, demographic and clinical features

Ömer Alyan¹, Fehmi Kaçmaz¹, Özcan Özdemir¹, Fatma Metin¹, Mustafa Soylu¹, Ramazan Atak¹, Kubilay Şenen¹, Gökhan Cihan¹, Dursun Aras¹, Ahmet Duran Demir¹, İrfan Sabah¹

OBJECTIVES
We evaluated patients with ventricular tachycardia (VT) with respect to etiological factors, demographic and clinical features, in-hospital mortality and reviewed recent therapeutic approaches in high-risk patients.
STUDY DESIGN
This retrospective study included 392 consecutive patients (111 females, 281 males; mean age 59.2 years; range 20 to 90 years) who were admitted to our hospital with sustained VT or who developed in-hospital VT between January 2000 and May 2003.
RESULTS
The most common etiological cause was chronic ischemia (45.9%), followed by acute ischemia (18.6%) and dilated cardiomyopathy (14.3%), whereas no etiologic cause was found in 60 patients (15.3%). Ventricular tachycardia was accompanied by ventricular fibrillation (VF) and syncope in 109 (27.8%) and 196 (50%) patients, respectively. Of the patient group, 147 patients (37.5%) had three-vessel, 68 patients (17.4%) had two-vessel, and 35 patients (8.9%) had one-vessel disease. Ninety-two patients (23.5%) died during hospitalization. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in patients with diabetes mellitus (p=0.002), acute myocardial infarction (p=0.004), syncope (p<0.001), and VF (p<0.001), whereas it was significantly lower in patients with idiopathic VT (p=0.01), and in those with an implanted cardioverter defibrillator (p=0.005). Logistic regression analysis revealed that syncope (p<0.001) and VF (p<0.001) were independent factors affecting mortality.
CONCLUSION
The development of VT is associated with poor prognosis in patients with ischemia, which requires prompt and aggressive therapeutic approaches in intensive care units.

Keywords: Amiodarone/therapeutic use; anti-arrhythmia agents; defibrillators, implantable; electrocardiography; exercise test; tachycardia, ventricular/therapy/mortality; ventricular fibrillation

---

CITE