Observations of the clinical characteristics of patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias--l978 to l985

To get some insight into the clinical profile of patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias and to elucidate potential time-dependent changes, data from 421 patients with documented tachyarrhythmias referred for electrophysiologic studies, were analyzed. The observation period is extended from 1978 to 1986. Patient's data were analyzed in 2-year subperiods. There were no major changes with regard to underlying heart disease, or within the interval between myocardial infarction and electrophysiologic study, or with regard to the indication for electrophysiologic study and the results of right ventricular stimulation during the analyzed subperiods. The interval between the first episode of documented tachyarrhythmia and the study, as well as the number of previous episodes of documented arrhythmias, decreased significantly between the first observation period (1978/79) and all the following periods. Before 1982, about 2% of patients were on amiodarone therapy at the time of referral, whereas from 1982 a higher proportion of cases was referred on amiodarone (21%, 12%, resp.). Over the whole observation period, an increasing number of patients finally underwent antitachycardia surgery.