Key result
Frequent premature ventricular contractions (>10% to >20% of heartbeats) can lead to fatigue, exertional dyspnoea, cardiomyopathy, and heart failure, whereas incidental PVCs are generally harmless.
Case Report (n=3)
Frequent PVCs are not always benign and can lead to cardiomyopathy, warranting consideration of anti-arrhythmic drugs or catheter ablation.
Frequent PVCs may warrant cardiomyopathy monitoring; Level 5 evidence leaves open prospective thresholds for ablation.
INTRODUCTION: Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are among the most prevalent arrhythmias. PVCs lead to haemodynamically insufficient heartbeats. Their presence is considered rather insignificant, but this widespread assumption is not supported by research evidence. CASES: We present three cases of patients commonly seen in daily general practice, with a range of presentations, varying from incidental (harmless) PVCs to frequent and potentially symptomatic PVCs. DISCUSSION: In more frequent PVCs (> 10% heart beats) fatigue and exertional dyspnoea may occur. When > 20% of heart beats are PVCs, patients may develop cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Incidental PVCs are harmless. Anti-arrhythmic drug treatment should be considered in case of frequent PVCs but also catheter ablation appears an effective treatment option. CONCLUSION: Altogether, PVCs may not be harmless, depending on their occurrence rate. Research data from primary care settings on epidemiology and natural course is needed.
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Winkens et al. (2013) conducted a case report in Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) (n=3). Premature ventricular contractions was evaluated. Frequent premature ventricular contractions (>10% to >20% of heartbeats) can lead to fatigue, exertional dyspnoea, cardiomyopathy, and heart failure, whereas incidental PVCs are generally harmless.
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