Catheter Ablation of Life-Threatening Ventricular Arrhythmias in Athletes
Nicola Tarantino,
Domenico G. Della Rocca,
Nicole S. De Leon De La Cruz,
Eric D. Manheimer,
Michele Magnocavallo,
Carlo Lavalle,
Carola Gianni,
Sanghamitra Mohanty,
Chintan Trivedi,
Amin Al-Ahmad,
Rodney P. Horton,
Mohamed Bassiouny,
J. David Burkhardt,
G. Joseph Gallinghouse,
Giovanni B. Forleo,
Luigi Di Biase,
Andrea Natale
Affiliations
Nicola Tarantino
Arrhythmia Service, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10467, USA
Domenico G. Della Rocca
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
Nicole S. De Leon De La Cruz
Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11212 USA
Eric D. Manheimer
Arrhythmia Service, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10467, USA
Michele Magnocavallo
Department of Cardiovascular/Respiratory Diseases, Nephrology, Anesthesiology, and Geriatric Sciences, Policlinico Umberto I, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Carlo Lavalle
Department of Cardiovascular/Respiratory Diseases, Nephrology, Anesthesiology, and Geriatric Sciences, Policlinico Umberto I, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Carola Gianni
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
Sanghamitra Mohanty
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
Chintan Trivedi
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
Amin Al-Ahmad
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
Rodney P. Horton
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
Mohamed Bassiouny
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
J. David Burkhardt
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
G. Joseph Gallinghouse
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
Giovanni B. Forleo
Department of Cardiology, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria “Luigi Sacco”, 20057 Milano, Italy
Luigi Di Biase
Arrhythmia Service, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10467, USA
Andrea Natale
St. David’s Medical Center, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, 3000 N. IH-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA
A recent surveillance analysis indicates that cardiac arrest/death occurs in ≈1:50,000 professional or semi-professional athletes, and the most common cause is attributable to life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias (VAs). It is critically important to diagnose any inherited/acquired cardiac disease, including coronary artery disease, since it frequently represents the arrhythmogenic substrate in a substantial part of the athletes presenting with major VAs. New insights indicate that athletes develop a specific electro-anatomical remodeling, with peculiar anatomic distribution and VAs patterns. However, because of the scarcity of clinical data concerning the natural history of VAs in sports performers, there are no dedicated recommendations for VA ablation. The treatment remains at the mercy of several individual factors, including the type of VA, the athlete’s age, and the operator’s expertise. With the present review, we aimed to illustrate the prevalence, electrocardiographic (ECG) features, and imaging correlations of the most common VAs in athletes, focusing on etiology, outcomes, and sports eligibility after catheter ablation.
