Prognostic implications of ventricular arrhythmias registered before discharge and one year after acute myocardial infarction.

The prognostic weight of ventricular ectopic beats (VEBs) was evaluated in 160 patients discharged after a CCU-treated acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and followed for two years. VEBs were registered prior to discharge by 6 hours of telemetry (3 hours during daytime including exercise and 3 hours at night) and again one year after the AMI. During the first year of follow-up, 11 patients died suddenly and 20 suffered reinfarction. Sixteen (55%) of these had shown severe VEBs, i.e. multiform, paired, R-on-T, or ventricular tachycardia, as compared to 42 (29%) of the remainder. During the second year of follow-up, eight patients suffered reinfarction and five died suddenly. The occurrence of severe VEBs prior to discharge was not of prognostic value for the second year per se but continued to carry prognostic weight for the first plus the second year. One year after the AMI the VEB incidence in 122 survivors without reinfarction increased insignificantly from 71 to 78%. VEB severity increased in 43% and decreased in 27% and the shift towards severe forms is significant. Severe VEBs one year after the AMI carry a prognostic weight for the second follow-up year, as 18% of patients with severe VEBs reinfarcted or died suddenly against 5% of those with nor or uniform VEBs only. Patients who had severe VEBs both prior to discharge and one year later did especially badly.