Clinical importance of short–long–short sequences: Analysing the mode of onset of ventricular tachycardias and atrial fibrillation

Clinical importance of atrial and ventricular ectopic beats are investigated in some experimental and clinical trials. They are common and occur in a broad spectrum of the population. This includes patients without structural heart disease and those with any form of cardiac disease, independent of severity.Although we know something about the mechanisms and etiology of serious ventricular arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation, we don't know a lot about mode of onset of those arrhythmias.Can short–long–short sequences, related ectopic beats predict AF and ventricular tachycardias in some selected groups of patients? In this paper we will try to answer this important question.