[ XXXX : from a collection of clinical cases to a prospective evaluation. The U-CARE Steering Committee. Unexplained Cardiac Arrest Registry of Europe].

@entity1 @entity1479 @entity1163 @entity10689 @entity299 @entity1167 @entity943
BACKGROUND: The primary aim of U-CARE (Unexplained Cardiac Arrest Registry of Europe) is to collect clinical information on survivors about a documented episode of @entity10689 ( @entity10689 ) and to follow these @entity1 (pts) prospectively to acquire information on 1) recurrence of malignant @entity943 or @entity1167 , 2) development of a previously non obvious @entity299 , 3) potential difference in outcome in pts treated with different drugs or devices. METHODS AND RESULTS: Within April 15th, 1994, eighty-six pts have been enrolled, 65 males and 21 females. The mean age at the time of the first @entity1167 was 35 +/- 15 years. Clinical evaluation revealed "minor" functional or anatomical abnormalities in 14 subjects and they were excluded from the analysis. In the remaining 72 pts, no abnormalities were found at echocardiogram, Holter, angiography, exercise stress test. At the electrophysiologic study 35/68 pts were inducible. Thirty-eight pts received pharmacologic therapy, 28 an implantable defibrillator ( @entity1479 ), three pts received both an @entity1479 and drug therapy and three were left untreated. Follow-up data are available for 37 pts with a mean follow-up of 4.4 +/- 2.6 years. No @entity1 had evidence of structural @entity299 . Twenty-three pts remained asymptomatic, 12 (32%) had a recurrence of @entity1163 or @entity1167 : three died suddenly and 2 were defibrillated by the @entity1479 . This study that represents the largest experience in @entity10689 , shows: 1) all @entity1 remained free from any @entity299 at follow-up, 2) they have a high risk of recurrence of major arrhythmic events. CONCLUSIONS: An @entity1479 implant would be appropriate in this population, at least until data on the efficacy of the pharmacologic therapy will be available.
