Clinical characteristics and EPS-guided therapy in 142 cases of sustained ventricular tachycardia

One hundred and forty-two consecutive patients with sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) were investigated. Only 26.1% of VTs were associated with ischemic heart disease (IHD). The induction rate of sustained VT upon electrophysiologic study (EPS) was 82.9% in patients with IHD and 65.3% in non-IHD. Of 76 inducible sustained VTs, pharmacologic therapy was finally selected in 35 cases, ablative therapy in 25 and surgical therapy in 12. Long-term prognosis was compared between groups divided according to type of ventricular arrhythmia induced at final EPS after antiarrhythmic therapy as follows: Group A: complete suppression of VT, Group B: clinical or non-clinical nonsustained VT, Group C: clinical sustained VT. The event rate in IHD was 6.3% in Group A, 44.4% in Group B and 100% in Group C. In non-IHD, the event rate was 24.0%, 25.0% and 75.0% (Groups A, B and C, respectively). Complete suppression of VT showed a good prognosis in IHD, however, a slightly higher recurrence rate was observed in non-IHD. In ablative therapy, some recurrences and sudden deaths were observed in spite of complete suppression of both VTs in both the IHD and non-IHD groups. Review of the efficacy of antiarrhythmic procedures is recommended during the follow-up period.