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Ventricular Premature Complexes (Premature Ventricular Contraction)

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A type of cardiac arrhythmia with premature contractions of the HEART VENTRICLES. It is characterized by the premature QRS complex on ECG that is of abnormal shape and great duration (generally >129 msec). It is the most common form of all cardiac arrhythmias. Premature ventricular complexes have no clinical significance except in concurrence with heart diseases.

Also Known As:

Premature Ventricular Contraction; Ventricular Extrasystoles; Premature Ventricular Complex; Ventricular Premature Complex; Ectopic Beat, Ventricular; Ectopic Beats, Ventricular; Premature Ventricular Beat; Ventricular Beat, Premature; Ventricular Beats, Premature; Ventricular Complex, Premature; Ventricular Contraction, Premature; Ventricular Contractions, Premature; Ventricular Ectopic Beat; Ventricular Extrasystole; Extrasystole, Ventricular; Premature Ventricular Beats; Premature Ventricular Contractions; Ventricular Ectopic Beats

Networked: 1380 relevant articles (119 outcomes, 121 trials/studies)

Relationship Network

Disease Context: Research Results

Related Diseases

1.	Ventricular Tachycardia
2.	Ventricular Fibrillation
3.	Tachycardia (Tachyarrhythmias)
4.	Cardiac Arrhythmias (Arrythmia)
5.	Myocardial Infarction

Experts

1.	Hasdemir, Can: 7 articles (12/2013 - 10/2008)
2.	Aizawa, Yoshifusa: 6 articles (01/2015 - 03/2005)
3.	Aydin, Mehmet: 6 articles (12/2013 - 10/2008)
4.	Can, Levent H: 6 articles (05/2013 - 10/2008)
5.	Milliez, Paul: 5 articles (08/2015 - 09/2012)
6.	Rouet, René: 4 articles (08/2015 - 01/2014)
7.	Manrique, Alain: 4 articles (08/2015 - 01/2014)
8.	Alexandre, Joachim: 4 articles (08/2015 - 01/2014)
9.	Kamakura, Shiro: 4 articles (03/2015 - 12/2004)
10.	Shimizu, Wataru: 4 articles (03/2015 - 12/2004)

Drugs and Biologics

Drugs and Important Biological Agents (IBA) related to Ventricular Premature Complexes:

1.	Mexiletine (Mexitil)FDA LinkGeneric 01/01/1989 - "Mexiletine treatment resulted in a highly significant reduction in the mean number of premature ventricular beats from 163 to 28 and 30/24 h, respectively (p less than 0.01). " 05/01/1984 - "Our results show that: Propafenon is better tolerated; Propafenon has caused a statistically significant reduction of the total number of ventricular ectopic beats/24 hours; the efficacy of Propafenon has been greater than that of Mexiletine (66% and 25% respectively); with both drugs, in 2 cases, there was an increase of the total number of ventricular ectopic beats/24 hours; Propafenon has induced clear-cut electrocardiogram changes (statistically significant lengthening of P-Q and Q-T intervals)." 06/19/1978 - "Treatment for 1 week with mexiletine 600 mg daily resulted in a statistically significant reduction in ventricular ectopic beats, particularly during and after exercise; there were virtually no side-effects. " 04/01/1986 - "Mexiletine is as effective as traditional antiarrhythmics in the treatment of premature ventricular contractions. " 07/02/1993 - "(+/-)-Mexiletine is a class Ib antiarrhythmic drug useful in the treatment of premature ventricular contractions. "
2.	Verapamil (Calan)FDA LinkGeneric 11/01/1993 - "There was a significant reduction in the number of ventricular ectopic beats over 24 hours (baseline: 15,541 +/- 17,599 vs verapamil treatment: 8892 +/- 15,582, p < 0.01). " 07/01/2001 - "Verapamil could suppress frequent ventricular premature complexes with a short coupling interval, which lead to Tdp. " 02/01/1994 - "In patients monitored twice, a significant increase of average ventricular premature complexes (VPC) per hour from before to 1 month (p = 0.0007) and 16 months (p = 0.02) after was demonstrated in the placebo group, and from before to 1 months (p = 0.01) after in the verapamil group. " 12/01/1990 - "The chronic effect on ventricular extrasystoles of the degrees of severity mostly II-IV were investigated in the open experiment on 17 patients as well as on 3 patients with supraventricular dysrhythmias and on 30 patients with ventricular extrasystoles Lown III-IV in the single blind cross-over experiments to verapamil retard. " 01/01/1988 - "Observed off verapamil over several months, the patient remained in normal sinus rhythm but continued to have numerous premature ventricular beats (PVB's). "
3.	Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)IBA 01/01/1991 - "Compared with the control group, these patients showed a significant reduction in the number of premature ventricular contractions (PVC) at rest, as well as an increased tolerance during ergometric cycle exercise as demonstrated by an increased maximal cardiac frequency, increased maximal systolic arterial blood pressure and therefore also increased double cardiac product and reduced ST-segment depression during maximal effort. " 11/01/2007 - "RF ablation of frequent premature ventricular contractions (PVC) has recently been shown to improve left ventricular (LV) systolic function and dimensions in a few patients, however mainly when they originated from the right ventricular outflow tract. " 11/01/2015 - "Recent studies have shown that premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) could enlarge the heart, but its risk factors are incompletely understood as a single 24-hour recording cannot reflect the true PVC burden due to day-to-day variability. " 07/01/2015 - "The aim of this study was to investigate the differences on origin distribution and radiofrequency ablation characteristics between premature ventricular contractions (PVC) from left and right ventricular. " 02/01/2013 - "On the electrophysiology study, activation mapping revealed that a discrete potential preceded the premature ventricular complex (PVC) triggered polymorphic VT, which was recorded just above the pulmonary valve. "
4.	Amiodarone (Amiodarona)FDA LinkGeneric 12/01/1987 - "Patients undergoing antiarrhythmic therapy (amiodarone) showed a significant reduction in the number of ventricular extrasystoles and in the incidence of complex ventricular arrhythmias. " 12/01/1985 - "Amiodarone (200 mg) given on a single blind, placebo-controlled basis to 9 of these patients reduced the frequency of ventricular extrasystoles in 6 of 9 patients (67%) and suppressed complex ventricular ectopy in 6 of 7 patients (85%). " 02/26/1994 - "Large trials of anti-arrhythmic agents have failed to demonstrate any clinical benefit in asymptomatic patients with ventricular ectopic beats, and the results of secondary prevention trials using amiodarone are still awaited. " 10/01/1993 - "Although amiodarone can suppress ventricular ectopic beats, no trial yet conducted has detected an effect on mortality. " 01/01/1991 - "The efficacy (70 to 90%) of amiodarone in ventricular extrasystoles has been shown in open studies. "
5.	Propafenone (Rythmol)FDA LinkGeneric 04/01/1987 - "At a dosage of 600 mg per day, propafenone is therefore effective in the treatment of ventricular extrasystoles in elderly patients and its tolerance is good. " 04/01/1987 - "The tolerance and efficacy of propafenone were studied in cases of chronic ventricular extrasystoles of the elderly (age greater than 70 years). " 05/01/1993 - "The efficacy of propafenone by oral route in the treatment of chronic ventricular extrasystoles (VES) was investigated in 14 subjects in the context of a multicenter evaluation carried out double blind and using a crossover sequence. " 04/01/1993 - "In conclusion, propafenone was found to have a valid antiarrhythmic effect, especially at the 900 mg/day dosage without interfering with left ventricular function which was even found to improve under chronic treatment, probably as a result of improved compliance thanks to the reduction of ventricular ectopic beats." 06/01/1998 - "[Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study of the effects of slow release and immediate release forms of propafenone in patients ventricular extrasystole symptoms]."
6.	Disopyramide (Norpace)FDA LinkGeneric 06/01/1989 - "Ritmilen is highly effective in ventricular extrasystole in the presence of slow sinus rhythm." 01/01/1986 - "Disopyramide gave a marked and significant reduction of ventricular ectopic beats both at rest and during and after exercise. " 12/01/1985 - "Low-dose (7 mg/kg per day) disopyramide administration to arrhythmic chagasic patients decreased the frequency of ventricular extrasystoles in 4 of 17 patients (24%) and suppressed most complex ventricular arrhythmias in 12 of 15 patients (80%). " 10/01/1984 - "i. d.) compared to disopyramide (D) (200 mg t.i.d.) was thus investigated using a double-blind crossover placebo-controlled protocol in 12 patients, aged 13 to 67 years, with chronic stable high frequency premature ventricular beats (PVB), defined as greater than 100 PVB/h during 48-72-h control Holter monitoring. " 09/01/1983 - "We tested the safety of multiple bolus loading for intravenous disopyramide in 10 patients with frequent premature ventricular beats. "
7.	Moricizine (Moracizine)FDA Link 12/01/1989 - "To examine the natural history of long-term anti-arrhythmic therapy in patients with benign and potentially lethal ventricular premature complexes (VPCs), 28 patients with initial efficacy with moricizine (greater than 75% suppression of baseline mean VPCs/hr and greater than 90% suppression of repetitive VPCs) were prospectively followed for 1 to 56 (mean +/- standard deviation 25 +/- 17) months. " 06/01/1991 - "Signal-averaged and standard electrocardiograms (ECGs) were used to monitor moricizine's myocardial effects in 16 patients with frequent ventricular premature complexes taking 600 to 900 mg daily. " 01/01/1989 - "Intravenous ethmozin in a dose of 270-730 mg for 4 h had pronounced antiarrhythmic effect in 80% of patients with frequent ventricular extrasystoles. " 04/15/1986 - "Twenty patients with an average of more than 30 ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) per hour were treated with ethmozine. " 04/15/1986 - "Ethmozine for ventricular premature complexes."
8.	Sotalol (Sotalol Hydrochloride)FDA LinkGeneric 08/25/1979 - "The efficacy of sotalol in suppressing ventricular ectopic beats." 07/01/2000 - "The Holter electrocardiographic analysis (24 hours) demonstrated that sotalol (32 versus 92; p = 0.031) decreased the median number of ventricular events, mostly isolated premature ventricular beats. " 09/15/1995 - "A total of 233 patients presenting with > or = 30 premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) per hour during drug-free Holter monitoring randomly received placebo or d-sotalol at dosages of 50, 100, or 200 mg BID. " 06/01/1995 - "The data obtained suggest that d-sotalol was moderately effective as an antiarrhythmic agent, in particular with respect to premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and coupled and repetitive PVCs. " 03/01/1991 - "The efficacy and safety of 2 doses of sotalol (320 and 640 mg/day, divided in 2 doses) were compared to placebo in a 6-week randomized, double-blind, multicenter study of 114 patients with chronic ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) at frequencies of greater than or equal to 30/hour. "
9.	Flecainide (Tambocor)FDA LinkGeneric 04/01/1989 - "This multicenter study in pts. with greater than 2400 ventricular ectopic beats/day confirms that flecainide is effective in the treatment of hyperkinetic ventricular arrhythmias including complex ones and that it is well tolerated in patients in a good NYHA functional class. " 04/01/1989 - "In the remaining 164 patients considered in the final evaluation, flecainide proved to be effective in 122 patients (74%) with a greater than 80% reduction of ventricular ectopic beats. " 04/01/1989 - "The aim of this multicentre study, carried out by the Italian Study Group on the Electrophysiology of Arrhythmias (GISEA) in 60 Italian Cardiology Centres on 260 patients, was to assess the efficacy and the safety of flecainide in the treatment of stable hyperkinetic ventricular arrhythmias (greater than 100 ventricular ectopic beats/hour per day). " 01/01/1985 - "In several open and a few controlled therapeutic trials, orally administered flecainide has brought about a greater than 90% suppression of ventricular ectopic beats in about 80% of patients. " 12/01/2000 - "Ventricular premature complexes developed only with flecainide in Brugada patients (3/12) displaying a marked ST elevation but not widening of QRS. "
10.	Lidocaine (Xylocaine)FDA LinkGeneric 04/01/1976 - "Intramuscular lidocaine administration is known to produce blood concentration levels considered to be therapeutic for prevention of premature ventricular contractions. " 01/01/2013 - "Lidocaine bolus may facilitate computed tomographic coronary angiography in patients with frequent premature ventricular contractions." 05/01/2010 - "Coronary dilators and lidocaine promptly reversed the ST elevation, premature ventricular beats and discomfort. " 04/01/2008 - "Giving 1 mg/kg lidocaine before the operation could obviously lower the possibility or degree of premature ventricular extrasystole. " 02/01/1998 - "Some premature ventricular contractions occurred, but they were easily controlled by administration of 50 mg lidocaine. "

Therapies and Procedures

1.	Ligation 06/01/1998 - "During the first 10 minutes following coronary ligation, activation delays were largest in ischemic subepicardium, with continuous electrical activity in ischemic epicardium linking a ventricular extrasystole to the preceding beat. " 01/01/1992 - "In ten anaesthetized open chest cats the ligation of left descending coronary artery (LLDCA) resulted in 80 percent of mortality with survival time of 40.9 +/- 8.6 min. The death of animals was preceded by premature ventricular contractions which occurred with frequency 7.3 +/- 0.6/min after 2.1 +/- 0.3 min following LLDCA. " 04/29/1986 - "Furthermore, the (+)-enantiomer significantly increased whilst the (--)-enantiomer reduced the number of ventricular ectopic beats occurring during coronary ligation. " 02/01/1982 - "Only the highest dose of drug also significantly reduced the number of ventricular ectopic beats following ligation. " 01/01/1979 - "A computer (PDP-10) simulation model was constructed using rapid, simultaneous measurements of effective refractory period (ERP), ERP dispersion (RPD), premature ventricular beat (PVB) thresholds, and multi-directional conduction times during coronary artery ligations and release in the anesthetized dog. "
2.	Catheters 10/01/1995 - "Frequent ventricular ectopic beats were successfully eliminated by catheter-delivered radiofrequency energy in all 10 patients. " 01/01/2012 - "Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of outflow tract ventricular ectopic beats (OTVEBs) can be performed using a 4-mm or externally-cooled tip RFA catheter, but no data are available concerning the safety and efficacy of a large-tip (8-mm) catheter. " 06/07/2013 - "Patients with isolated and monomorphic premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) were investigated by noninvasive BSPMs and subsequent invasive catheter mapping and ablation. " 01/01/2012 - "Single-centre experience with an 8-mm tip catheter for radiofrequency catheter ablation of outflow tract ventricular ectopic beats." 10/01/2008 - "Successful catheter ablation of premature ventricular contractions originating from the tricuspid annulus using a Halo-type catheter."
3.	Aftercare (After-Treatment) 01/03/1977 - "A statistically significant reduction in the number of ventricular ectopic beats (VEBs) was seen 1.0-3.5 h after drug intake; the average number of VEBs per 30 min decreased from 317 during the control period to 92 by 1.0-3.5 h after treatment and if one patient who did not respond is excluded, the corresponding figures were 272 and 14, respectively. " 04/01/2003 - "The total 24-h count of premature ventricular beats was not different before treatment (15 beats; 95% CI, 5 to 44 beats) and after treatment (12 beats; 95% CI, 5 to 30 beats; p = 0.57). " 11/01/1995 - "At baseline, frequent or complex ventricular arrhythmias (> 30 ventricular extrasystoles per hour, ventricular couplets) were present in 2 (4%) patients, with no significant change after treatment. " 01/01/1992 - "After treatment with the diuretic, the systolic blood pressure was reduced, the heart rate increased and the ventricular ectopic beat incidence reduced (significant changes). " 03/01/2010 - "Ventricular extrasystoles or tachycardia disappeared in 7 cases and was reduced in 4 cases after treatment. "
4.	Baths 07/01/2002 - "Those who took baths and exercised for 6 months benefited from the treatment most as their muscular performance and coronary heart reserve increased; mean daily number of ventricular extrasystoles reduced by 73.3%, supraventricular extrasystoles--by 72.2%; intraventricular conduction was not damaged." 11/01/1999 - "Antiarrhythmic effect of the radon baths was different: a significant reduction in the average number of 24-h ventricular extrasystoles by 78.1, supraventricular extrasystoles by 92.3%, and by 79.9 and 94.7% for the 40 nCi/l baths and 120 nCi/l baths, respectively."
5.	Drug Therapy (Chemotherapy) 04/15/2008 - "With drug therapy, average heart rate associated with premature ventricular complex couplets/triplets increased, whereas duration and complexity of premature ventricular complexes decreased. " 11/03/1988 - "A failure to suppress ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) on Holter during drug therapy predicts a poor outcome. " 06/01/2010 - "If ventricular arrhythmia recurs despite drug therapy, catheter-ablation of initiating premature ventricular beats may be warranted." 03/01/1995 - "A case is presented of symptomatic premature ventricular contractions refractory to drug therapy with right bundle branch block QRS morphology and left axis deviation in a 68-year-old female without structural heart disease. " 03/01/1994 - "The Electrophysiological Study Versus Electrocardiographic Monitoring (ESVEM) trial randomized 486 patients with spontaneous sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fibrillation (VF) or unmonitored syncope, who manifested reproducibly inducible sustained ventricular arrhythmias by provocative stimulation and 10 or more premature ventricular contractions per hour on Holter monitoring, to two groups treated with pharmacotherapy guided by suppression of stimulation-inducible VT/VF or suppression of spontaneous or exercise induced ventricular arrhythmias. "