Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Left Cardiac Sympathetic Denervation in Patients with Hereditary Ventricular Arrhythmias

Left cardiac sympathetic denervation (LCSD) has been underutilized in patients with hereditary ventricular arrhythmia syndromes such as congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT). The purpose of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) LCSD in such patients.

Fifteen patients (four men, 24.6 ± 10.5 years old) who underwent VATS-LCSD between November 2010 and January 2015 for hereditary ventricular arrhythmia syndromes at Kyungpook National University Hospital were enrolled in this study. The safety and efficacy of VATS-LCSD were evaluated by periprocedural epinephrine tests and assessing the development of complications and cardiac events during follow-up.

Fourteen patients with LQTS and one patient with CPVT underwent VATS-LCSD. Six and one patients developed ventricular tachyarrhythmia during preprocedural and postprocedural epinephrine test, respectively (P = 0.063). No serious complications such as Horner syndrome, pneumothorax, or bleeding developed after LCSD. Mean hospital stay after VATS-LCSD was 3.7 ± 1.5 days. During a mean follow-up of 927 ± 350 days, one LQTS patient and one CPVT patient, neither of whom manifested tachyarrhythmia during post-LCSD epinephrine test, developed torsades de pointes and syncope, respectively. The annual event rates of six patients who were symptomatic during the period preceding LCSD decreased from 0.97 to 0.19 events/year (P = 0.045).

VATS-LCSD was a safe, and effective procedure for patients with hereditary ventricular tachycardia syndrome, with no serious adverse events and with short hospital stay.