Exercise testing and training of patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmias

Malignant ventricular arrhythmias account for a significant number of deaths annually. Improved therapies have increased survival for this patient population. These patients, however, remain at high risk due to their history of sudden cardiac death and the preponderance of poor ventricular function in this population. This high risk status may have excluded them from participation in cardiac rehabilitation programs or from undergoing exercise testing in some medical centers. Although the risk of complications, especially arrhythmias, is quite real, the experience in some centers has indicated that it is manageable. This experience and some guidelines for exercise testing and training of patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmias are reviewed in this paper.