Toward preventing coronary death from ventricular fibrillation.

Sudden coronary death from ventricular fibrillation is the biggest and possibly the most remediable of the major public health problems at the moment. Most of those liable to sudden death can be identified and it is possible that by the use of beta-adrenergic blocking or other antiarrhythmic drugs, by reducing the consumption of cigarettes and perhaps, by different therapies for hypertension, a substantial proportion of coronary deaths might be prevented or, at least, postponed.