Introduction
Premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) are frequently encountered
cardiac arrhythmias that become more prevalent with advancing age. In
fact, approximately 50% of individuals over 50 years of age, regardless
of the presence of heart disease, exhibit PVCs during extended
monitoring1,2. Catheter ablation (CA) has proven to be
more effective than pharmacological treatments in reducing PVC burden
and enhancing both left and right ventricular
function3-5. Approximately 80% of patients achieve
long-term relief following CA, although the procedure entails a 4% risk
of complications. Outcomes are typically less favorable for PVCs
originating from non-outflow tract (non-OT) locations, and there is a
significant need to improve the success rates of CA for these
cases3,4,6. Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE)
provides high-quality, real-time imaging of the heart and has been
extensively adopted in both diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac
interventions7. Observational data have indicated that
the application of ICE during ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation
procedures correlates with a reduced incidence of major
complications8,9. According to the latest expert
consensus on ICE, its use could be particularly beneficial for the
catheter ablation of non-OT origin PVCs7. Nonetheless,
it remains to be determined whether ICE-assisted CA leads to better
outcomes or a decrease in complications for patients with frequent PVCs.
The goal of the current study is to evaluate the immediate and long-term
success as well as the periprocedural complication rates of CA in
patients with frequent PVCs or non-sustained VT, comparing outcomes
between those who underwent ICE-assisted CA and those who did not.