The long QT syndrome: a prospective international study.

During the past 4 years 196 patients with the idiopathic long QT syndrome were enrolled in a prospective international study conducted to obtain a better understanding of the clinical course of this unusual repolarization disorder. The mean patient age was 24 years, 64% were female, and 88% had family members with QT prolongation. During an average follow-up of 26 months per patient, four patients died suddenly (1.3% per year) and 27 patients had one or more syncopal episodes (8.6% per year). Multivariate analysis identified congenital deafness, history of syncope, female gender, and a documented episode of torsades de pointes or ventricular fibrillation as independent risk factors for postenrollment syncope or sudden death. Two types of treatment (left stellate ganglionectomy and beta-blocker therapy) were associated with a significant reduction in the occurrence of cardiac events during follow-up.