SBRT for Cardiac Ablation in Patients With Refractory Ventricular Tachycardia

This case details a 44-year-old man with end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy with refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT). The patient has a single-chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, has had 2 VT ablations, and uses medication to manage his VT. Despite these interventions, he continued to have episodes of VT. The patient underwent stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to help reduce the burden of his VT. The patient received a dose of 25 Gy to his right inferior lateral region of the heart and a dose of 15 Gy to the inferior portion of the heart closer to the stomach. The patient followed up 1 month later and reported that his energy levels improved and that no arrhythmias had occurred since his SBRT treatment.

The options for treating end-stage VT are limited. However, a treatment option using SBRT has been introduced to reduce the VT burden in patients. Cardiac SBRT is a noninvasive outpatient procedure that, while still awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, reduces arrhythmia episodes and offers favorable short-term benefits for patients who have not responded to traditional treatment modalities.

Cardiac SBRT is a novel treatment for VT in patients where standard treatments have failed. This case study demonstrates that SBRT effectively reduced arrhythmias in a patient with VT. The long-term clinical outcomes are not known, but the opportunity SBRT offers for treatment-refractory patients is favorable and should be considered.