Premature Ventricular Contraction Patterns

Understanding Pattern-Based Nomenclature

The American College of Cardiology uses a systematic naming convention for PVCs based on their frequency pattern relative to normal sinus beats, including bigeminy, trigeminy, and quadrigeminy 1
The American College of Cardiology defines bigeminy as a PVC after every normal beat, trigeminy as a PVC after every 2 normal beats, and quadrigeminy as a PVC after every 4 normal beats 2

The American College of Cardiology recommends that athletes with ≥2 PVCs on a single 12-lead ECG undergo extensive evaluation, including Holter monitoring, echocardiogram, and exercise stress testing 2
Patients with ≥2,000 PVCs per 24 hours have a 30% risk of underlying structural heart disease, compared to 3% in those with <2,000 PVCs daily, according to the American College of Cardiology 2
The American College of Cardiology suggests that PVCs that increase rather than suppress with exercise may indicate underlying cardiac pathology and require further evaluation, including cardiac MRI and possible electrophysiology study 2