Abstract
The prognostic value of ventricular premature beats (VPBs) was evaluated in 198 patients with chest pain (non-AMI patients) in whom the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction was ruled out after admission to hospital. VPBs were registered at the time of discharge during a 24-hour Holter monitoring. The amount of cardiac events (CEs) were analyzed after 1 and 7 years follow-up. After 1 year, CEs were seen in 9% of the non-acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. After 7 years, 51 CEs (20 nonfatal AMIs and 31 cardiac deaths) had occurred (25%). After 1 year, only pairs of VPBs were associated with an increased risk of CEs. CEs were seen in 25% of the patients with pairs of VPBs and in 6% of the patients without pairs (p<0.01). The occurrence of CEs after 7 years was related to the presence of pairs of VPBs and multiform VPBs. Fifty-five percent of the patients with pairs of VPBs had CEs during the long-term follow-up, compared with 22.5% without pairs (p<0.0005). CE was seen in 48.9% of the patients with multiform VPBs, compared with 19.0% without multiform VPBs (p< 0.0001). Thus, Holter monitoring seems to be of better value for predicting long-term prognosis than for predicting short-term prognosis in non-AMI patients. The presence of multiform VPBs or pairs of VPBs is strongly associated with an increased risk of CE after 7 years. Non-AMI patients with pairs of VPBs or multiform VPBs should be considered as high-risk patients.
