Reproducibility and treatment of exercise-induced ventricular tachycardia

Fourteen patients with exercise-induced ventricular tachycardia (VT) underwent serial treadmill testing, and those with reproducible arrhythmia were treated with a beta-adrenergic blocking agent. In 11 patients (79%), VT of similar rate, morphologic characteristics and duration was reproduced on 2 consecutive treadmill tests performed 1 to 14 days apart. Beta blockade prevented recurrent VT during acute testing in 10 of 11 patients and during chronic therapy in 9. Eight patients had a consistent relation between a critical sinus rate and the onset of VT. In these patients, successful therapy correlated with preventing achievement of the critical sinus rate during maximal exercise. Thus, serial exercise testing is an appropriate means of assessing efficacy of therapy in patients with exercise-induced VT, provided that reproducibility is established on 2 control tests before beginning treatment. Therapy with beta-blocking agents is effective, especially when guided by the presence of a critical sinus rate-VT relation.