Clinical and electrophysiologic outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous endocardial ablation of scar-related ventricular tachycardia: a single-center experience.
BACKGROUND
For patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias, implantable cardioverter defibrillators are a mainstay of therapy to prevent sudden death. However, ICD shocks are painful, can result in clinical depression, and do not offer complete protection against death from arrhythmia. Radiofrequency catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia in the setting of ischemic cardiomyopathy has emerged recently as a useful adjunctive therapy to ICD.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the feasibility, safety and efficacy of our initial experience in ablation of scar-related VT.


METHODS
Eleven patients (all males, mean age 71 +/- 8 years) with drug-refractory ischemic VT were referred to our center for scar mapping and ablation procedures using the CARTO navigation system.


RESULTS
Eleven clinical VTs (mean cycle length 436 +/- 93 ms) were induced in all patients. An endocardial circuit, identified by activation, entrainment and/or pace mapping, was found in eight patients with stable VT. These patients were mapped and ablated during VT. Three patients had predominantly unstable VT and linear ablation lesions were performed during sinus rhythm. Acute success, defined as termination of VT and/or non-inducibility during programmed electrical stimulation, was found in 9 patients (82%). During followup, a significant reduction in tachyarrythmia burden was observed in all patients who had successful initial ablation, except for one who had recurrence of VT 2 days after the procedure and died 2 weeks later.


CONCLUSIONS
Ablation of ischemic VT using electroanatomic scar mapping is feasible, has an acceptable success rate and should be offered for ischemic patients with recurrent uncontrolled VT.
Electrophysiology Division, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
Ibrahim
I
Marai
Mahmoud
M
Suleiman
Miri
M
Blich
Tawfik
T
Zeidan-Shwiri
Leor
L
Gepstein
Monther
M
Boulos
D000368:Aged; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000150:complications*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac; D022062:Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome