Empirical long-term antiarrhythmic therapy after myocardial infarction was evaluated in this meta-analysis, but the truncated abstract provides only background information without reporting results.
Meta-Analysis
SUDDEN cardiac death remains a major cause of mortality and a significant public health concern. At least 40% of sudden deaths occur in people with clinically overt heart disease, and among patients with coronary heart disease, the risk of sudden death is relatively greater for those patients who have had a myocardial infarction (MI) than for those who have not.1Approximately 50% of MI-related deaths are sudden and usually caused by ventricular arrhythmias.2,3Although the majority of these deaths occur in the earliest phases of MI,4the risk of mortality beyond 1 year after MI remains four to eight times greater than that for comparable patients who did not have an MI.5,6Approximately 35% to 40% of deaths that occur late after MI will be caused by sudden death.7 The presence of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) after MI has been shown to be a risk
L. K. Hine (1989) conducted a meta-analysis in Myocardial infarction. Empirical long-term antiarrhythmic therapy was evaluated. Empirical long-term antiarrhythmic therapy after myocardial infarction was evaluated in this meta-analysis, but the truncated abstract provides only background information without reporting results.