Triggers for premature ventricular contractions

Trigger	Patient group	Test
Alcohol	Patients reporting alcohol use, physical examination signs of alcohol use	Alcohol screen, urine toxicology
Caffeine (eg, coffee or tea intake)	Patients reporting caffeine use
Recreational/stimulating drugs	Patients in whom stimulant drug use is suspected	Drug screen (eg, for cocaine, amphetamines)
Electrolyte abnormalities (eg, potassium or magnesium)	Patients with suspected metabolic derangements (eg, vomiting, diarrhea, diuretic use, etc)	Serum electrolytes
Hypoxia	Patients with COPD or other chronic lung disease	Pulse oximetry, arterial blood gas
Uncontrolled hypertension	Patients with a history of hypertension or risk factors for hypertension	Blood pressure measurement
Hyper/hypothyroidism	Patients with symptoms/signs of hyper- or hypothyroidism	TSH
High digoxin level	Patients taking the drug	Digoxin level
Heart failure exacerbation	Patients with heart failure symptoms or physical examination signs of volume overload	Brain-type natriuretic peptide
Anemia	Patients with symptoms/signs of anemia	Complete blood count
Psychological stress/anxiety	Patients reporting increase in life stressors, anxiety
Menopausal transition	Females in the perimenopause period

COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; TSH: thyroid-stimulating hormone.

Graphic 138370 Version 1.0