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Not So Benign: Benign early repolarization (BER) effects in STEMI
- Benign early repolarization (BER) has been associated with increased risk of sudden cardiac death and ventricular fibrillation (VF) in patients with and without structural heart disease.
- Acute STEMI is associated with high incidence of ventricular arrhythmias and the most frequent cause of sudden cardiac death in the adult population.
- BER has been associated with arrhythmogenicity, however the prognostic importance of this ECG finding in patients with STEMI has not been well elucidated.
- In a recent prospective study of STEMI patients, BER was associated with higher rates of in-hospital ventricular arrhythmias and mortality; It is an independent predictor of long-term mortality beyond well-known other parameters.
References
Ozcan K, et al. Presence of early repolarization on admission electrocardiography is associated with long-term mortality and MACE in patients with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous intervention. Journal of Cardiology, Volume 64, Issue 3, September 2014, Pages 162-163.