Death due to premature heartbeat after exercise

Frequent ventricular ectopy, another name for premature heart beat, during recovery after exercise has been found by researchers to be a better predictor of an increased risk of death and one that occurs during exercise. Doctors from Cleveland Clinic Foundation observed 29,244 patients with no history of heart failure, valve disease or arrhythmia. They were referred to an exercise test to see if frequent ventricular ectopy occurred and when it occurred. Their status was followed for more than five years. The researchers found that only 2 per cent had premature heartbeats during recovery after exercise compared to 3 per cent who had it during exercise. Two percent of the subjects had frequent ventricular ectopy both during exercise and during the recovery and 1,862 of the patients died over the five years. The main finding was that frequent ventricular ectopy during recovery from exercise had a greater risk of death at 11% compared to 9% in patients who had premature heartbeats during exercise and only 5% in those who did not have premature heartbeats. Doctors thus concluded that frequent ventricular ectopy during recovery after exercise was a better predictor of risk of death.