Successful Open Chest Epicardial Ablation for Refractory Ventricular Tachycardia in an LVAD Recipient

Silvia Corona; Moreno Naliato; Claudio Tondo; Michela Casella; Anna Apostolo; Piergiuseppe Agostoni; Luca Salvi; Francesco Alamanni

doi:10.1016/j.jaccas.2021.02.007

Successful Open Chest Epicardial Ablation for Refractory Ventricular Tachycardia in an LVAD Recipient

JACC Case Rep. 2021 Apr 14;3(7):1055-1060. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2021.02.007. eCollection 2021 Jul 7.

Authors

Silvia Corona¹, Moreno Naliato¹, Claudio Tondo^{2

3}, Michela Casella², Anna Apostolo⁴, Piergiuseppe Agostoni^{4

5}, Luca Salvi⁵, Francesco Alamanni^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiac Surgery, Centro Cardiologico Monzino, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Healthcare (IRCCS), Milan, Italy.
² Department of Electrophysiology, Centro Cardiologico Monzino, IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
³ Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and Community Health, Cardiovascular Section, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
⁴ Department of Heart Failure and Clinical Cardiology, Centro Cardiologico Monzino, IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
⁵ Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Monzino Cardiology Center, IRCCS, Milan, Italy.

Abstract

A patient with history of dilated cardiomyopathy, a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator, and endocardial ablation presented for refractory ventricular tachycardia 3 years after implantation of a Jarvik 2000 left ventricular assist device (Jarvik Heart, Inc., New York, New York). Open-chest epicardial ablation safely and effectively terminated the arrhythmia, without ventricular tachycardia recurrence at 9-month follow-up and in the absence of complications during the hospital stay. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).

Keywords: CRT-D, cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator; ICD, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator; Jarvik 2000; LV, left ventricular; LVAD; LVAD, left ventricular assist device; RF, radiofrequency; RV, right ventricular; VA, ventricular arrhythmia; VT, ventricular tachycardia; epicardial ablation; ventricular tachycardia.

Publication types

Case Reports