Introduction
Ventricular tachyarrhythmia (VTA) especially sustained ventricular
tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, is an infrequent yet serious
complication of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Prior studies reported
that VTA complicates 2-8% of ACS cases and has adverse implications on
in-hospital and long-term mortality (1, 2). Early VTAs occur in the
first 48 hours of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and are the most
frequent cause of AMI-related death (3). Late VTAs i.e. >
48 hours of AMI onset are usually associated with ventricular
dysfunction (4). Over the past decade, major advances in the treatment
of patients with AMI have occurred and led to improved survival (5).
Currently, however, there is limited data regarding the incidence and
temporal trends over recent years in the outcomes of patients presenting
with VTA complicating ACS. Moreover, limited information exists
regarding the association between VTA observed during ACS
hospitalization to short and long-term mortality. This is despite
overall enhanced therapy and improved survival among ACS patients.
Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluated temporal
trends of clinical characteristics and outcomes over the last two
decades (2000-2016) among ACS patients presenting with and without VTA
who were enrolled in the Acute Coronary Syndrome Israeli Survey (ACSIS)
survey.