Non-sustained ventricular tachycardia

• Abbreviated as NSVT
• NSVT is ≥ 3 consecutive heart beats below AV node at a rate > 120 BPM, lasting < 30 s. (Buxton 2000, Katritsis 2004)

• AV = atrioventricular
• BPM = beats per minute
• EF = ejection fraction (left ventricular unless otherwise specified)
• HCM = hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• hr = hour(s)
• ICD = implantable cardioverter-defibrillator
• MI = myocardial infarction
• s = second(s)
• s/p = status post

• Random NSVT: no increased adverse prognosis (Katritsis 2004)
• Exercise-induced: conflicting results, but newer study seemed to indicate no significance
  • no significance and occurs asymptomatically in 4% of adults (Marine 2013)
  • possible cardiac ischemia and increased mortality (Katritsis 2004)

• Within 24 hr of acute MI: no increased adverse prognosis
• After 24 hr of acute MI: increased adverse prognosis
• Chronic cardiac ischemia with EF > 40%: unknown significance
• Chronic cardiac ischemia with EF < 40%: increased adverse prognosis

(Katritsis 2004)

• All patients but especially the young: increased adverse prognosis including sudden cardiac death (SCD) (Katritsis 2004, Wang 2017)
• NSVT characters associated with ICD discharge in HCM patients with ICD: faster runs (> 200 BPM), longer runs (> 7 beats), and repetitive runs (Wang 2017)

In patients with the following condition, NSVT has an unknown significance in cardiac and morality prognosis.

• Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD)
• Brugada syndrome
• Congenital heart defect s/p corrective surgery
• Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)
• Hypertension (HTN)
• Long QT syndrome (LQTS)
• Valvular heart disease
• Ventricular fibrillation (V-fib)

(Katritsis 2004)

• Cross-coverage
• Electrocardiogram
• Ventricular tachycardia

• Long-Term Outcome of Non-Sustained Ventricular Tachycardia in Structurally Normal Hearts (PLoS One)

• Buxton AE, Duc J, Berger EE, et al. Nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. Cardiology Clinics. 2000;18(2):327–336. DOI: 10.1016/S0733-8651(05)70144-2
• Katritsis DG, Camm AJ. Nonsustained ventricular tachycardia: where do we stand? (open-access, PDF). European Heart Journal. 2004;25(13):1093–1099. DOI: 10.1016/j.ehj.2004.03.022
• Lin CY, Chang SL, Chung FP, et al. Long-Term Outcome of Non-Sustained Ventricular Tachycardia in Structurally Normal Hearts (open-access, PDF). PLoS One. 2016;11(8):e0160181. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160181 | PMID: 27548469 | PMCID: PMC4993359
• Marine JE, Shetty V, Chow GV, et al. Prevalence and Prognostic Significance ofExercise-Induced Nonsustained VentricularTachycardia in Asymptomatic Volunteers (PDF). Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2013;62(7): 595–600. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2013.05.026
• Wang W, Lian Z, Rowin EJ, et al. Prognostic Implications of Nonsustained Ventricular Tachycardia in High-Risk Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (open-access, PDF). Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. 2017;10(3). DOI: 10.1161/CIRCEP.116.004604