Sudden death in pacemaker patients is frequently associated with severe three-vessel coronary artery disease, suggesting malignant ventricular tachycardia as the likely mechanism.
Sudden death in paced patients may associate with severe three-vessel disease; hypothesis-generating for VT mechanisms and requires prospective validation.
Of 264 pacemaker patients who died within 27.6 ± 21 months following pacemaker implantation, 36 (13.6%) died suddenly. There was no difference between them and the remaining patients in terms of age, sex, indications for pacing, type of pacemaker used, and interval between pacemaker implantation and death. On autopsy, all but one patient were found to show severe three‐vessel disease without evidence of acute myocardial infarction. The cause of death would thus be compatible with malignant ventricular tachycardia.
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Nürnberg et al. (1985) studied this question.
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