The yield of a comprehensive investigation protocol for the diagnosis of true idiopathic ventricular fibrillation in a real-life clinical setting
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Scientific Reports |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-64513-7 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-64513-7 |
| Keywords | Idiopathic ventricular fibrillation; Diagnostic protocol |
| Description | Traditionally, aborted cardiac arrest (ACA) due to documented ventricular fibrillation (VF) in the absence of structural heart disease has been termed idiopathic VF. By careful evaluation, a specific etiology can be found in a substantial proportion of patients. The aim of this survey was to assess the yield of an advanced diagnostic work-up to reveal a causative etiology in a real-life clinical setting. Patients from the University Hospital Brno’s ACA database were analyzed (514 patients in total). Forty-six patients (31 males) fulfilled the inclusion criteria, which were: (1) absence of structural pathology on echocardiography; (2) absence of coronary artery disease; and (3) absence of reversible cause of ACA. The diagnostic work-up consisted in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, stress testing, sodium channel blocker challenge, and genetic testing according to the availability of the method and patient compliance. A specific disease was found in 17 individuals (37.0%), although at least one diagnostic step was refused by 13 patients (28.3%). True idiopathic VF was confirmed in 7 patients (15.2%), for whom the entire diagnostic work-up did not reveal any specific pathology. Our real-life survey shows that, even with an incomplete diagnostic work-up (due to the unavailability of a particular method or variable patient compliance), a specific diagnosis can be identified in more than one third of the cases of “idiopathic” VF, which can thus enable targeted treatment and family screening. |
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