Ventricular Tachycardia in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy; a Combined Endo-Epicardial Ablation Within the First Procedure Versus a Stepwise Approach

Overview

Rationale: Nowadays ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation in structural heart disease is performed primarily by early referral; while at the same time we still struggle with the limited longterm ablation success of endocardial VT ablation. An underestimated number of VTs from ischemic substrate have an epicardial exit. However, one cannot accurately predict who is in need of epicardial ablation. The investigators hypothesise endo/epicardial substrate homogenization in a first approach to be superior to endocardial substrate homogenization alone, in terms of recurrence on follow-up. Objective: To show superiority of a combined endo/epicardial approach compared to a stepwise approach in the ablation of ventricular tachycardia in a population with ischemic cardiomyopathy on VT recurrence. Study design: Multicenter prospective open randomized controlled trial. Study population: All patients above 18 years with an ischemic cardiomyopathy being referred for a ventricular tachycardia ablation. Intervention: One group undergoes endo/epicardial ablation and the other group has endocardial ablation only as a first approach. Main study parameters/endpoints: The main study endpoint is the difference in recurrences of ventricular tachycardia on follow-up - clinical or on implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) interrogation - between the two ablation groups; secondary endpoints are procedure success and safety.

Conditions