[Risk stratification for sudden cardiac death in ischemic heart disease. Programmed ventricular stimulation]

Programmed ventricular stimulation was used extensively in the 1970s and has markedly improved our knowledge about the electrophysiological mechanisms of reentrant ventricular arrhythmias. In numerous observational but also randomized studies, it was shown that the induction of a monomorphic ventricular tachycardia by programmed ventricular stimulation was associated with an increased risk of spontaneous ventricular tachycardia or even sudden cardiac death in the future. Despite these results and the guidelines of ACC and ESC recommending the use of programmed ventricular stimulation in patients with recent and remote myocardial infarction, reduced ejection fraction, and complex ventricular arrhythmias or syncope, programmed ventricular stimulation is only seldom used and does not play a relevant role in clinical practice today. The purpose of this overview is to reevaluate the importance of programmed ventricular stimulation for the risk evaluation of patients with ischemic heart disease in consideration of the current literature.