de Sousa J
Serviço de Cardiologia, Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisboa.
Rev Port Cardiol. 2001 Mar;20 Suppl 3:33-8.
Heart failure has a high prevalence in the western world: 1-1.5% in the general population and 2-5% in patients above 65 years old. The association with cardiac dysarrhythmia is very common: 20-30% of patients have atrial fibrillation and significant ventricular arrhythmias occur in 50%. The pathophysiology of cardiac arrhythmias is multifactorial, including reentry, increased automaticity and triggered activity. Several prognostic factors have been described in patients with coronary artery disease, however, the two more important are the functional class and the severity of left ventricular dysfunction. In order to prevent disarrhythmic complications, the appropriate treatment of heart failure and of the underlying cardiac disease are very important. Class III antiarrhythmic drugs and the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator are increasingly used as primary (in high risk patients) or secondary prophylactic agents.
普通人群中为1%-1.5%，65岁以上患者中为2%-5%。与心律失常的关联非常常见：20%-30%的患者患有心房颤动，50%的患者发生显著的室性心律失常。心律失常的病理生理学是多因素的，包括折返、自律性增加和触发活动。在冠状动脉疾病患者中已描述了几种预后因素，然而，两个更重要的因素是心功能分级和左心室功能障碍的严重程度。为了预防心律失常并发症，心力衰竭和潜在心脏病的适当治疗非常重要。Ⅲ类抗心律失常药物和植入式心脏复律除颤器越来越多地用作主要（高危患者）或二级预防药物。
