Catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) is gaining in importance. The current guidelines suggest considering catheter ablation for VT even in patients with a single sustained and documented episode. This is also underlined by recent data indicating that absence of VT predicts lower mortality and longer transplant-free survival. The majority of patients with VTs have a history of prior myocardial infarction; in a smaller proportion, patients present with dilated cardiomyopathy. The latter has a less structured scar pattern which makes it more complicated to apply efficient ablation strategies. Data have shown that the probability of VT recurrence after catheter ablation is higher and an epicardial access more frequently required. Algorithms and strategies to improve catheter ablation results have been developed and evaluated especially on patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) to further improve outcomes. The present article will strive to acquaint the reader with the current strategies and state of knowledge.
Keywords: Epicardial ablation; Myocardial infarction; Structural heart disease; Substrate-based ablation; Ventricular tachycardia.