Left ventricular hypertrophy as a factor in arrhythmias and sudden death.

Hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) are predisposed to sudden cardiac death. Several studies have demonstrated that complex ventricular arrhythmias, including episodes of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, occur commonly during ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring of hypertensive patients with LVH. The prognostic significance of such arrhythmias is not known. In other forms of cardiac hypertrophy, however, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, complex ventricular arrhythmias detected during ambulatory monitoring are predictive of subsequent sudden death and there is some evidence that appropriate antiarrhythmic drug therapy may reduce mortality.