Recurrent Ventricular Tachycardia — More Drugs or Bring Out the Catheter?

The treatment of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and recurrent ventricular tachycardia despite combined treatment with an implantable cardioverter–defibrillator (ICD) and antiarrhythmic drugs can be exceedingly difficult. More than 20 years ago, we found that reentry (a process in which an ele...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe New England journal of medicine Vol. 375; no. 2; pp. 173 - 174
Main Authors Cain, Michael E, Curtis, Anne B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Massachusetts Medical Society 14.07.2016
Subjects
Arrhythmia
Cardiac arrhythmia
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiovascular disease
Catheter Ablation
Catheters
Clinical trials
Drug therapy
Electrocardiography
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Ischemia
Patients
Recurrence
Tachycardia
Tachycardia, Ventricular
Ventricle
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Summary:The treatment of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and recurrent ventricular tachycardia despite combined treatment with an implantable cardioverter–defibrillator (ICD) and antiarrhythmic drugs can be exceedingly difficult. More than 20 years ago, we found that reentry (a process in which an electrical impulse cycles repeatedly through an area of cardiac tissue) is often the mechanism of scar-related monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. 1 Driven by this knowledge, researchers have developed catheter ablation procedures that can be used to target and interrupt reentrant pathways. Ablation procedures are increasingly efficacious when performed at high-volume centers in some groups of patients with ventricular arrhythmias. 2 – 6 On the . . .
Bibliography:SourceType-Other Sources-1
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ObjectType-Editorial-2
ObjectType-Commentary-1
ISSN:0028-4793
1533-4406
DOI:10.1056/NEJMe1606305