Introduction
Ventricular tachyarrhythmia (VTA) especially sustained ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, is an infrequent yet serious complication of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Prior studies reported that VTA complicates 2-8% of ACS cases and has adverse implications on in-hospital and long-term mortality (1, 2). Early VTAs occur in the first 48 hours of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and are the most frequent cause of AMI-related death (3). Late VTAs i.e. > 48 hours of AMI onset are usually associated with ventricular dysfunction (4). Over the past decade, major advances in the treatment of patients with AMI have occurred and led to improved survival (5). Currently, however, there is limited data regarding the incidence and temporal trends over recent years in the outcomes of patients presenting with VTA complicating ACS. Moreover, limited information exists regarding the association between VTA observed during ACS hospitalization to short and long-term mortality. This is despite overall enhanced therapy and improved survival among ACS patients. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluated temporal trends of clinical characteristics and outcomes over the last two decades (2000-2016) among ACS patients presenting with and without VTA who were enrolled in the Acute Coronary Syndrome Israeli Survey (ACSIS) survey.