Electrophysiologic and Biochemical Mechanisms Underlying Malignant Ventricular Arrhythmias during Early Myocardial Ischemia

Sudden cardiac death accounts for over 300,000 deaths per year in the United States alone [111]. It most often occurs in the setting of diffuse coronary artery disease [9], and in about 25% of cases of sudden cardiac death, the event is the initial presentation of coronary disease [87]. Death is most often due to malignant ventricular arrhythmias including complex premature ventricular complexes or ventricular tachycardia which culminate in the development of ventricular fibrillation [23].