Recurrent arrhythmic storms and unsuccessful catheter ablation in chronic ischemic heart disease.

The prototypical substrate for reentrant ventricular tachycardia (VT) is post-myocardial infarction (MI) scar. Catheter ablation is an important therapeutic option for recurrent VT but sometimes it is not effective despite the technical advances. Here we describe the case of a 60-year-old man who suffered a MI in 1998 and presented with recurrent arrhythmic storms during his long-term follow-up. Twenty years later, he underwent two catheter ablations with bipolar electroanatomic voltage mapping (EVM) demonstrating only an area of low voltages in the lateral left ventricular free wall. Both procedures were unsuccessful and the patient eventually underwent cardiac transplantation in 2019. Pathology examination revealed circumferential subendocardial scar with hypertrabeculation, so that the reentry substrate was unreachable by ablation with the use of standard techniques. The comparison of EVM findings with the morphologic ones in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease can help to better understand the feasibility and effectiveness of VT substrate ablation. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Monica De Gaspari, Nicoletta Finato, Ricarda Marinigh, Ugolino Livi, Cristina Basso, Roberto Mantovan. Recurrent arrhythmic storms and unsuccessful catheter ablation in chronic ischemic heart disease. Cardiovascular pathology : the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology. 2023 Jan-Feb;62:107491

Mesh Tags

PMID: 36306970

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