Dubois C, Piérard L A, Smeets J P, Carlier J, Kulbertus H E
Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Liège, Belgium.
Eur Heart J. 1989 Sep;10(9):816-20. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.eurheartj.a059575.
Among 477 consecutive patients admitted for inferior acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 2nd or 3rd degree atrioventricular (AV) block developed in 88 (20%). Compared with the 359 without AV block, these 88 patients presented a higher incidence of Killip class greater than 1 (52% vs 28%, P less than 0.001), pericarditis (30% vs 17%, P less than 0.01), atrial fibrillation (26% vs 11%, P less than 0.01), complete bundle branch block (12% vs 4%, P less than 0.01) and in-hospital mortality (24% vs 4%, P less than 0.001). The 3-year post-hospital mortality was not significantly different in the two groups (12% vs 15%). Among the 88 patients with AV block, those who died at hospital were older (66 +/- 11 vs 59 +/- 11 years, P less than 0.05), had a higher incidence of Killip class greater than 1 (86% vs 42%, P less than 0.001) and bundle branch block (29% vs 7%, P less than 0.05). Thus, patients with inferior AMI who developed AV block had a poor hospital outcome but long-term prognosis was similar in hospital survivors who had AV block and in those without this complication.
