Sudden death in congestive heart failure.

Despite significant advances in recent years in the diagnosis and treatment of congestive heart failure, sudden unexpected cardiac death is still considered a major epidemiologic problem among those patients. This article lists some of the predisposing factors to the development of cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death in patients with congestive heart failure. These include electrolyte or autonomic nervous system inbalance, the use of certain anti-arrhythmic drugs, or intermittent myocardial ischemia. This paper shows that an advanced degree of left ventricular dysfunction and the preference frequent or complex ventricular arrhythmias appear to be major predictors of total and sudden mortality among patients with congestive heart failure. A screening of 24 hours ambulatory Holter monitor recording appears to be useful in identifying patients at risk of sudden cardiac death.