Myocardial injury after electrical therapy for cardiac arrhythmias assessed by troponin-T release

Episodes of ventricular fibrillation with subsequent intracardiac, and to a lesser extent, external defibrillation give rise to a statistically significant increase in S-troponin T, S-CK-MBmass, and S-myoglobin indicative of a minor myocardial injury or dysfunction. In contrast, no such signs were observed after external direct-current conversion of atrial fibrillation using high energies, or after pace-terminated ventricular tachycardia.