[Cardiac arrhythmia in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease and therapy]

In 38 patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD), lung function tests, blood gas analysis, catheterisation examination of the right heart, and long-term (Holter) ECG were performed. In comparison with normal subjects, all the patients had a higher mean 24-hour heart rate of 97 +/- 11/minute, and a disturbance of the physiological day/night rhythmicity. Seventeen patients (group I) revealed no major arrhythmias (Lown I to III). More than 50 per cent of the patients (group II) were found to have complex arrhythmias (Lown IV), together with an elevated incidence of polymorphic ventricular and superventricular extrasystoles. A significant correlation of the arrhythmias with the severity of the obstruction or pulmonary hypertension was not observed. Only the long-term follow-up of these patients will provide us with information about the prognostic significance of the complex arrhythmias and about indications for anti-arrhythmic treatment.