Idiopathic ventricular fibrillation: The importance of long-term follow-up

M. Visser

Research output: ThesisDoctoral thesis 1 (Research UU / Graduation UU)

Abstract

This thesis focused on the clinical characteristics of patients with an initial diagnosis of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF). We showed that long-term follow-up of patients with IVF is extremely important, as 21% of patients develop an underlying disease. Therefore, thorough investigation with repeated ECG, exercise-ECG, and echocardiography during follow-up is necessary. Genetic testing should also be performed, because the yield in patients initially diagnosed with IVF is 15%. Extended genetic testing of a large gene panel is not routinely recommended, because the added yield is only 3%. The recurrence of ventricular arrhythmias is high with 30%, therefore ICD implantation is justified. Furthermore, the impact of IVF on the health-related quality of life seems serious, as IVF patients report an impaired mental health-related quality of life compared to patients who experienced a cardiac arrest but were diagnosed with an underlying disease. Last, in a large national cohort of 166 IVF patients, we identified four predictors for recurrence of ventricular arrhythmias: The presence of an ERP, a higher resting heart rate and a longer PR interval on the 12-leads ECG and a positive family history of SCD.
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Doevendans, Pieter, Primary supervisor
  • Hassink, Rutger, Co-supervisor
Award date15 Jun 2017
Publisher
Print ISBNs978-90-393-6772-8
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jun 2017

Keywords

  • Idiopathic ventricular fibrillation
  • long-term follow-up
  • genetic testing

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