Frequency and prognostic significance of secondary ventricular fibrillation complicating acute myocardial infarction

Solomon Behar, Henrietta Reicher-Reiss, Michael Shechter, Babeth Rabinowitz, Elieser Kaplinsky, Edward Abinader, Jacob Agmon, Yaacov Friedman, Jacob Barzilai, Nissim Kauli, Yehezkiel Kishon, Abraham Palant, Benyamin Peled, Leonardo Reisin, Zwi Schlesinger, Izhar Zahavi, Monty Zion, Uri Goldbourt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

The incidence of secondary ventricular fibrillation (VF) complicating acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was 2.4% in a large cohort of unselected patients with AMI (142 of 5,839). Secondary VF was more frequent in patients with recurrent AMI (4%) than in those with a first AMI (1.9%) (p < 0.01). The hospital course was more complicated and in-hospital mortality was significantly higher in patients with secondary VF than in those with the same clinical hemodynamic condition but without VF (56 vs 16%; p < 0.0001). Multivariate analyses confirmed secondary VF complicating AMI as an independent predictor of high in-hospital mortality, with an odds ratio of 7 (95% confidence interval 4.6-10.6). However, long-term mortality after discharge (mean follow-up 5.5 years) was not increased in patients with as compared with those without secondary VF (39 vs 42%). These findings were also true when patients receiving β blockers and antiarrhythmic therapy were excluded from analysis. Thus, this life-threatening arrhythmia occurring during hospitalization is not a marker of recurrent susceptibility to VF or an indicator of increased mortality after discharge from the hospital.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)152-156
Number of pages5
JournalAmerican Journal of Cardiology
Volume71
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Jan 1993
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

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