Inflammatory Biomarkers are not Predictive of Intermediate‐term Risk of Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias in Stable CHF Patients

Abstract

SummaryBackground: Elevated levels of inflammatory biomarkers and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) are associated with increased mortality in patients with heart failure (HF).Hypothesis: The aim of the current study was to assess the correlation between circulating biomarkers and ventricular tachyarrhythmias among patients with HF.Methods: Blood samples from 50 stable ambulatory HF patients with moderate to severe systolic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) were analyzed for interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and BNP. Thereafter, the patients were followed for a mean period of 152 ± 44 days, during which ventricular tachyarrhythmias were recorded by the ICDs.Results: Follow-up data were obtained from 47 patients. Of them, 45 (96%) had ischemic cardiomyopathy, 38 (81%) had New York Heart Association class I-II, 43 (91%) were males, and the mean age was 68.6 ± 11.1 years. During follow-up, 5 patients (11%) had nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT), 6 patients (13%) had sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF) and 36 patients

Predictors of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with mitral valve prolapse

“…Di Biase et al showed that the severity of ventricular arrhythmias is related to CRP levels during the first phase of acute myocardial infarction [31]. However, in a recent study, no correlation was found between plasma levels of hs-CRP and ventricular arrhythmic events among stable heart failure patients [32]. To our knowledge, there is no study investigating the relationship between hs-CRP levels and MVP.…”

Predictors of Appropriate Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) Therapy in Primary Prevention Patients with Ischemic and Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy

“…While previous studies have examined the predictors of appropriate shock, many of these were older studies that included a heterogeneous population of patients that were predominantly secondary prevention 6,7 . Many of the more modern studies examining this issue on a primary prevention population have only studied the influence of one particular risk factor 3,13,15,17,19,20,28–30 . Only one study has looked at multiple predictors of shock in a primary population, but specifically from clinical trial data 11 .…”

Psychological vulnerability, ventricular tachyarrhythmias and mortality in implantable cardioverter defibrillator patients: is there a link?

“…One study found no correlation between plasma levels of IL-6, TNF-α, high-sensitive C-reactive protein and brain natriuretic peptide and ventricular arrhythmic events among stable heart failure patients having ICDs, while in another study, high-sensitive C-reactive protein was correlated with ventricular tachyarrhythmias in 121 ICD recipients over a 1-year period [62,63].…”