Role of cardiac sympathetic denervation in ventricular tachycardia: A meta-analysis

Cardiac sympathetic denervation (CSD) is being used in the management of refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT) and electrical storm. However, data on the role of CSD in the management of ventricular arrhythmia is limited.

We performed a meta-analysis of retrospective studies to calculate the pooled rate of freedom from VT and the standard mean difference of ICD shocks before and after CSD.

14 nonrandomized studies with a total of 311 patients with refractory VT or electrical storm were included. At a mean follow up of 15 ± 10.7 months, the pooled rate of freedom from VT (VT nonrecurrence rate) after CSD in all causes of arrhythmia was 60% (range 48.8% to 70%, I²   = 43%). When analysis was restricted to only arrhythmias caused by conditions other than catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) and long QT syndrome (LQTS), the pooled VT non-recurrence rate was 50% (range 41% to 58%, I²   = 5%). After CSD, mean total number of ICD shocks per person diminished by 3.01 (95% CI 1.09-4.94, P = .002, I²  = 96%) in overall analysis and by 0.97(95% CI 0.41-1.5, P = .001, I²  = 45%) when CPVT and LQTS were excluded.

In patients with refractory VT or electrical storm, CSD is associated with pooled VT nonrecurrence rate of 60% at a mean follow-up of 15 ± 10.7 months. CSD was also associated with significantly lower mean number ICD shocks per person. Further studies are needed to validate this finding in a prospective setting.