Recurrence of ventricular fibrillation in acute ischemic heart disease.

We assessed factors during an initial episode of ventricular fibrillation that may be predictive of recurrence. Of 141 consecutive patients with acute ischemic heart disease who survived an initial episode of ventricular fibrillation, 41 (29%) had recurrent ventricular fibrillation during hospitalization. The incidence of recurrent ventricular fibrillation was lower among those with an acute myocardial infarction than among those with acute ischemic episode. Recurrent ventricular fibrillation occurred more frequently among patients with secondary ventricular fibrillation complicating an acute myocardial infarction than among those with primary ventricular fibrillation. Primary ventricular fibrillation than occurred within 2 hours of the onset of symptoms was no more likely to be recurrent than when it occurred later. Age, sex, site of infarction, place of arrest, adequacy of initial resuscitation, interval onset of symptoms to the initial episode of ventricular fibrillation, onset of symptoms to intensive care and delay before initial attempted defibrillation were not significantly related to the recurrence of ventricular fibrillation.