Diagnosis and Treatment of Premature Atrial or Ventricular Complexes

Abstract

Premature atrial complex (PAC) and premature ventricular complex (PVC) are the most common arrhythmias. Most of them are benign, whereas some could be an initial sign of any underlying significant heart disease. Evaluation of daily burden and the presence of any association with underlying medical conditions are essential for proper assessment. Recently, newly developed electrocardiogram smart devices are widely available to document arrhythmias and identify correlations with symptoms. Management is required if the daily burden is high, patients are highly symptomatic, or significant structural heart disease is present. Antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) are the first-line treatment, but if arrhythmias are drug-refractory or the patients are intolerable to AADs, catheter ablation is considered a good alternative in selected cases. In this paper, the proper diagnosis and management for PAC and PVC will be comprehensively reviewed.