[Therapy of ventricular arrhythmias]

During the last years substantial progress has been made in better understanding the mechanisms and the prognostic significance of ventricular arrhythmias. Malignant ventricular arrhythmias are a key element in sudden cardiac death and prevention of sudden death remains to be a major challenge for cardiologists. Holter-Monitoring and provocative electrophysiologic testing are the methods of choice not only for diagnostic and prognostic evaluation but also for identifying effective treatment for malignant ventricular arrhythmias. Aside from the progress in pharmacologic treatment of ventricular arrhythmias, important advances are being made in the development of surgical techniques and electronic devices to treat arrhythmias.