Table 1 .
Baseline characteristics according to tertile of ventricular tachycardia.
| Variable | All patients | VT 1st tertile | VT 2nd tertile | VT 3rd tertile | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients | 225 | 76 | 79 | 70 | |
| Number of VTs (±SD) | 20±115 | 0±0 | 2.2±1.4 | 61.8±202.6 | |
| - Min-max | 0-1657 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 6-1657 | |
| - Median | 2.0 | 0 | 2.0 | 17.0 | |
| Age >70 years | 59 (26) | 26 (34) | 22 (28%) | 11 (16%) | 0.01 |
| Mean age (± SD) | 61.7±12.4 | 63.2±13.1 | 61.5±13.4 | 60.2±10.0 | 0.15 |
| Male sex | 160 (71) | 51 (67) | 56 (71) | 53 (76) | 0.25 |
| Diabetes | 28 (12) | 10 (13) | 15 (19) | 3 (4) | 0.11 |
| Smoking | 92 (41) | 31 (46) | 26 (36) | 35 (56) | 0.27 |
| Heart rate >100 bpm | 18 (8) | 6 (9) | 7 (10) | 5 (9) | 0.98 |
| SBP ≤100 mmHg | 31 (14) | 11 (16) | 5 (7) | 15 (25) | 0.19 |
| DBP <60 mmHg | 27 (12) | 12 (17) | 7 (10) | 8 (13) | 0.47 |
| Coronary history | |||||
| - AMI | 27 (12) | 12 (16) | 8 (10) | 7 (10) | 0.27 |
| - PCI | 17 (8) | 7 (10) | 5 (6) | 5 (7) | 0.59 |
| - CABG | 6 (3) | 2 (3) | 3 (4) | 1 (1) | 0.67 |
| Admission medication | |||||
| - Aspirin | 48 (21) | 23 (30) | 11 (14) | 14 (20) | 0.12 |
| - β-blocker | 54 (24) | 24 (32) | 11 (14) | 19 (27) | 0.49 |
| - Statin | 41 (18) | 18 (24) | 10 (13) | 13 (19) | 0.40 |
| - ACE inhibition | 29 (13) | 6 (8) | 13 (17) | 10 (14) | 0.24 |
| - Loop diuretic | 12 (5) | 7 (9) | 3 (4) | 2 (3) | 0.09 |
| Ischaemic time | |||||
| - >3 hours | 110 (52) | 37 (54) | 38 (51) | 35 (52) | 0.80 |
| Infarct size (peak levels) | |||||
| - CK | 1067±1143 | 703±1018 | 1193±1282 | 1320±1015 | 0.001 |
| - CK-MB | 86.6±83.1 | 57.9±74.4 | 95.6±94.2 | 107.5±70.3 | 0.001 |
| - Troponin | 160.3±312.0 | 102.1±223.7 | 179.1±270.3 | 202.2±416.1 | 0.001 |
P values calculated with linear-by-linear Χ2 statistic and Kruskall-Wallis test. Values are presented as numbers (%) or mean ± SD. SBP=systolic blood pressure, DBP=diastolic blood pressure, AMI=acute myocardial infarction, CABG=coronary artery bypass grafting, PCI=percutaneous coronary intervention, CK (MB)=creatine kinase (myocardial band), SD=standard deviation, VT=ventricular tachycardia.