PLoS ONE (Jan 2017)

Long-Term Outcomes of Radio-Frequency Catheter Ablation on Ventricular Tachycardias Due to Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy: A Single Center Experience.

  • Wei Wei,
  • Hongtao Liao,
  • Yumei Xue,
  • Xianhong Fang,
  • Jun Huang,
  • Yang Liu,
  • Hai Deng,
  • Yuanhong Liang,
  • Zili Liao,
  • Fangzhou Liu,
  • Weidong Lin,
  • Xianzhang Zhan,
  • Shulin Wu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169863
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
p. e0169863

Abstract

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To summarize our experience of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) for recurrent drug-refractory ventricular tachycardias (VTs) due to arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) in our center over the past 11 years and its related factors.We reviewed 48 adults (mean age 39.9 ± 12.9 years, range: 14 to 65) who met the present ARVC diagnostic criteria and accepted RFCA for VTs from December 2004 to April 2016. The patients received a total of 70 procedures using two ablation approaches, the endocardial approach in 52 RFCAs, and the combined epicardial and endocardial approach (the combined approach) in 18 RFCAs. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the combined approach achieved better acute procedural success (p = 0.003) and better long-term outcomes (p = 0.028) than the endocardial approach. Patients who obtained acute procedural success with non-inducibility had better long-term outcomes (p < 0.001). COX regression of multivariate analysis showed that procedural success was the only factor that benefited long-term outcome, irrespective of the endocardial or the combined approach (p = 0.001). The rate of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients without procedural success was significantly higher than that in patients with procedural success (p = 0.005). All patients without implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation who had successful final RFCA survived.The combined approach resulted in better procedural success and long-term VT-free survival compared with the endocardial approach in ARVC patients with recurrent VTs. Acute procedural success with non-inducibility was strongly related to better long-term VT-free survival and reduced SCD, irrespective of whether this was achieved by the endocardial approach or the combined approach.