ABSTRACT
The presence of three or more consecutive ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) on an electrocardiogram (ECG) is diagnosed as ventricular tachycardia (VT) (1,2). VT is considered sustained if it lasts 30 seconds and nonsustained if its lasts <30 seconds (2). Complex ventricular arrhythmias (VA) include VT or paired, multiform, or frequent VPCs. This author considers frequent VPCs an average of 30/hour on a 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram (AECG) or 6/minute on a 1-minute rhythm strip of an ECG (2,3). Simple VA includes infrequent VPCs and no complex forms.
