Diagnostic tools for arrhythmia detection in adults with congenital heart disease and heart failure

Heart Fail Clin. 2014 Jan;10(1):57-67. doi: 10.1016/j.hfc.2013.09.009.

Abstract

As patients with congenital heart disease age with increasingly complex lesions, heart failure and arrhythmias have emerged as leading sources of morbidity and mortality. The two are intertwined, as one may herald, beget, or aggravate the other. Moreover, arrhythmias in adults with congenital heart disease and heart failure can be poorly tolerated or life threatening. There is, therefore, much interest in promptly and accurately diagnosing arrhythmias and identifying risk factors for sudden death. This article appraises current knowledge regarding diagnostic tools for arrhythmias in adults with congenital heart disease and heart failure and comments on their prognostic value where relevant.

Keywords: Adult congenital heart disease; Arrhythmias; Diagnostic testing; Electrophysiology; Heart failure.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Arrhythmias, Cardiac* / diagnosis
  • Arrhythmias, Cardiac* / etiology
  • Arrhythmias, Cardiac* / prevention & control
  • Death, Sudden, Cardiac* / etiology
  • Death, Sudden, Cardiac* / prevention & control
  • Defibrillators, Implantable
  • Electrocardiography* / instrumentation
  • Electrocardiography* / methods
  • Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac* / instrumentation
  • Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac* / methods
  • Heart Defects, Congenital* / complications
  • Heart Defects, Congenital* / physiopathology
  • Heart Failure* / complications
  • Heart Failure* / physiopathology
  • Heart Rate
  • Humans
  • Monitoring, Physiologic / methods
  • Myocardial Contraction
  • Pacemaker, Artificial
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prognosis