title: Catheter ablation of incessant ventricular tachycardia.
abstract: Emergency catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia was performed in 22 patients. All patients had incessant ventricular tachycardia that persisted for > or = 12 h/day and was only transiently terminated by stimulation techniques, anti-arrhythmic drugs or cardioversion. Radiofrequency catheter ablation was carried out using entrainment criteria as well as endocardial activation mapping. Ventricular tachycardia was terminated in 91% of cases, one patient underwent map-guided surgery and the remaining patient was managed by anti-arrhythmic drugs. After the initial ablation procedure 3 of the 20 patients who could be acutely managed died in hospital: one patient in refractory heart failure 24 h following ablation, one patient suddenly 10 days following ablation on the ward and another patient 4 weeks following ablation because of septicemia. Four patients underwent elective implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator because of inducible ventricular tachycardia, and another patient underwent elective map-guided surgery. Overall, 12 patients were discharged without any additional non-pharmacologic intervention; 5 of them were free of anti-arrhythmic drugs and 7 patients had previously received ineffective medication including continuation of amiodarone in 3 patients. These results indicate that radiofrequency catheter ablation may play a role in the treatment of patients with incessant ventricular tachycardia. Thus, non-pharmacologic management of incessant ventricular tachycardia is associated with a high hospital mortality rate especially in surgically treated patients. Catheter ablation using radiofrequency current is the preferred approach for acute palliation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Angiology, Westfälische Wilhelms-University, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borggrefe
mesh_terms: D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000295:instrumentation; D004554:Electric Countershock / Q000009:adverse effects; D004630:Emergencies; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*