Ventricular tachycardia without apparent heart disease: long-term follow-up

Jean Marc Sellal1, Béatrice Brembilla-Perrot, Christine Suty-Selton

  • 1Cardiology CHU of Brabois, Vandoeuvre Les Nancy, France.

Insights

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) in patients without heart disease has a good long-term prognosis. Invasive treatment is rarely needed, with outcomes depending mainly on age and electrocardiogram patterns.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Electrophysiology

Background:

  • Ventricular tachycardia (VT) can occur in patients without structural heart disease.
  • Understanding the long-term prognosis of such cases is crucial for clinical management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the long-term prognosis of ventricular tachycardia (VT) in patients lacking structural heart disease (HD).

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 810 patients with VT underwent Holter monitoring, exercise testing, echocardiography, and angiography.
  • Electrophysiologic studies were conducted to assess VT inducibility.
  • Follow-up duration averaged 9.7 years.

Main Results:

  • Eighty patients (mean age 45 ± 17 years) had no apparent HD.
  • VT was reproduced in 62 patients during electrophysiologic study.
  • 50% of patients were alive without antiarrhythmic drug treatment at follow-up; 3 developed dilated cardiomyopathy, and 2 developed atrial fibrillation.

Conclusions:

  • Invasive treatment for VT in patients without HD is infrequently required.
  • Long-term prognosis is primarily associated with patient age and the electrocardiogram pattern of VT.
Abstract

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