Prognostic Relevance of Nonsustained Ventricular Tachycardia in Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension

Background. Increased pulmonary vascular resistance in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) leads to an increased afterload of right heart and cardiac remodeling which could provide the substrate or trigger for arrhythmias. Supraventricular arrhythmias were associated with clinical deterioration but were not associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD). SCD has been reported to account for approximately 30% of deaths in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Objective. The role of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (nsVT) and its prognostic relevance in patients with PH remains unclear. This study evaluated the prognostic relevance of nsVT in patients with PAH and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Methods. Retrospectively, patients with PAH and CTEPH who underwent Holter ECG monitoring and available data of survival were investigated. Results. Seventy-eight (PAH: 55, CTEPH: 23) patients were evaluated. Holter ECG revealed nsVT in 12 patients. Twenty-one patients died during follow-up. In patients with nsVT, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion was lower (p = 0.001), and systolic pulmonary arterial pressure was higher (p = 0.163). Mean survival of patients without/with nsVT was 155.2 ± 8.5/146.4 ± 21.4 months (p = 0.690). The association between arrhythmias and survival was not confounded by age (p = 0.681), gender (p = 0.752), 6-MW distance (p = 0.196), or arterial hypertension (p = 0.238). Conclusions. In patients with PH, nsVT occurs more often than previously reported, and patients with PH group 1 seem to be more at risk.