In-hospital electrocardiographic (ECG) monitors are typically configured to alarm for premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) due to the potential association of PVCs with ventricular tachycardia (VT). However, no contemporary hospital-based studies have examined the association of PVCs with VT. Hence, the benefit of PVC monitoring in hospitalized patients is largely unknown. This secondary analysis used a large PVC alarm data set to determine whether PVCs identified during continuous ECG monitoring were associated with VT, in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA), and/or death in a cohort of adult intensive care unit patients. Six PVC types were examined (i.e., isolated, bigeminy, trigeminy, couplets, R-on-T, and run PVCs) and were compared between patients with and without VT, IHCA, and/or death. Of 445 patients, 48 (10.8%) had VT; 11 (2.5%) had IHCA; and 49 (11%) died. Isolated and run PVC counts were higher in the VT group (p = 0.03 both), but group differences were not seen for the other four PVC types. The regression models showed no significant associations between any of the six PVC types and VT or death, although confidence intervals were wide. Due to the small number of cases, we were unable to test for associations between PVCs and IHCA. Our findings suggest that we should question the clinical relevance of activating PVC alarms as a forewarning of VT, and more work should be done with larger sample sizes. A more precise characterization of clinically relevant PVCs that might be associated with VT is warranted.
Keywords: alarm fatigue; in-hospital electrocardiographic monitoring; intensive care unit; premature ventricular complex; ventricular tachycardia.
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