Objective: To evaluate the relationship between sudden cardiac death, ventricular
arrhythmias and left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with hypertension. Data identification:
Epidemiological studies assessing the importance of left ventricular hypertrophy as a risk
factor for sudden cardiac death, studies assessing the prevalence of arrhythmias in left
ventricular hypertrophy and studies assessing whether there is an electrophysiological
substrate in the hypertrophied myocardium for ventricular dysrhythmias. Results of data …

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the most common mortal event in the Western world,
occurring in approximately 350,000 people per year in the United States, or almost one per
minute.'SCD occurs in an unpredictable and frequently premature fashion, disrupting
community and family life. Although SCD often affects the elderly, younger individuals, often
at the peak of professional and domestic responsibilities, are also at risk. The annual
economic impact from SCD has been estimated at 2.2 billion dollars in the United States. z …