Sudden death during longterm ambulatory monitoring.

Ten instances of sudden cardiac death documented with longterm ambulatory electrocardiography are described. All had coronary artery disease. The lethal arrhythmia was ventricular fibrillation in seven, bradyarrhythmia ending in asystole in two, and electromechanical dissociation in one. There was no specific arrhythmia pattern in the preceding hour of the terminal event and no predictable electrical trigger for the lethal arrhythmia. The literature on the subject has been reviewed. It appears from the information available that larger series of documented sudden death cases are needed if one wishes to define subgroups with a preventable case of sudden cardiac death.