Idiopathic ventricular fibrillation successfully terminated by radiofrequency ablation of the distal Purkinje fibers.
A 21-year-old woman was admitted for evaluation of recurrent episodes of syncope. She had several spontaneous and abrupt loss of consciousness episodes while at the emergency department, caused by sustained and nonsustained ventricular fibrillation episodes. Each episode was initiated by a certain premature ventricular complex, which remained the same in subsequent ventricular fibrillation episodes. She had a total of eight more episodes of ventricular fibrillation during her admission, despite administration of intravenous antiarrhythmic agents. A diagnosis of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation was made. Radiofrequency catheter ablation was performed, targeting the distal Purkinje system. Ventricular fibrillation was noninducible after the procedure, and the patient has been symptom-free for the past 1 year.
Kohsaka
Shun
S
Department of Cardiology, Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. sk2798@columbia.edu
Razavi
Mehdi
M
Massumi
Ali
A
D000328:Adult; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011690:Purkinje Fibers; D014693:Ventricular Fibrillation / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*