Sources of Funding: There are no sources of funding related to this study
Total word count: 4062 words
Corresponding Author: Koji Fukuzawa, MD, PhD
Affiliation: Section of Arrhythmia, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine
Address: 7-5-2 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuoh-Ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Telephone: +81-78-382-5846, Fax: +81-78-382-5859
E-mail: kfuku@med.kobe-u.ac.jp
Data availability statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Introduction
Radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a well-established treatment for recurrent ventricular tachycardia (VT) and many studies have shown that a successful RF ablation can prevent VT recurrence and reduce mortality in patients with structural heart disease (SHD).1-3
In the early 1990s, the success of RF ablation was based on the confirmation of clinical VT non-inducibility.4 After that, in the era of 3D mapping system, various indicators such as the disappearance of abnormal potentials was proposed,5but VT non-inducibility is still one of the most important endpoints.6-9 Previous studies have demonstrated that VT non-inducibility at the end of RF procedures is less likely to be associated with a VT recurrence in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM)6 or non-ICM (NICM).7 However, it is not clear whether we should use VT non-inducibility as a routine endpoint of VT ablation. In sicker patients, the risk of repeated induction tests, a prolonged operative time, and overtreatment should be considered. In clinical practice, it may not be realistic to achieve non-inducibility in some patients.
The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate VT recurrence in patients in whom VT non-inducibility could not be achieved at the end of the RF ablation and the factors attributed to VT recurrences in ICM and NICM patients. Further, the impact of the clinical VT ablation on the outcomes was also assessed as the secondary purpose.
Methods