title: [Incessant or recurrent ventricular tachycardia. Indications for emergency ablation].
abstract: Incessant ventricular tachycardia and "electrical storms" are emergencies, requiring urgent action in a close cooperation between critical care physicians and cardiologists. The leading cause of such events is advanced cardiac disease. Besides the patient's history, an ECG and, if applicable, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) interrogation is required for a reliable diagnosis. Further diagnostics include laboratory parameters, an echocardiogram, and possibly a coronary angiography. The medical therapy, consisting of amiodarone and β-blockers, should immediately be initiated after diagnosis. In the case of failed drug therapy, urgent catheter ablation is indicated. This is a complex procedure, in which the clinical tachycardia or the electrical substrate is modified by using an irrigated catheter. The acute success rate of this life-saving procedure is high. However, there might also be complications due to the required extensive procedures.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Innere Medizin I (Kardiologie, Angiologie, Pneumologie, Internistische Intensivmedizin), Universitätsklinikum Jena, Erlanger Allee 101, 07747, Jena, Deutschland. ralf.surber@med.uni-jena.de
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Surber
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prochnau
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kühnert
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Figulla
mesh_terms: D000638:Amiodarone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D000075202:Contraindications; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable / Q000009:adverse effects; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000150:complications; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012984:Software; D013611:Tachycardia, Atrioventricular Nodal Reentry / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D000638:Amiodarone