Ventricular Arrhythmias in Congestive Cardiomyopathy

Abstract
To the Editor: In their article on dilated cardiomyopathy of the adult, Johnson and Palacios review the pathophysiologic features and the causes of this poorly understood heart disease, emphasizing that "[n]o systematic study of ventricular arrhythmias by means of. . . ambulatory recordings has been conducted" (Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 issues).1 In congestive cardiomyopathy cardiac arrhythmias are frequent and severe (58 per cent2 to 73 per cent3 on standard electrocardiograms); they may coexist with heart failure and be the cause of cardiac arrest.Recent studies4 suggest that the occurrence of frequent episodes of repetitive ventricular ectopic beats (couplets) and . . .