Description:
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<jats:bold>Introduction:</jats:bold>
Treatment options for patients with recurrent ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) refractory to pharmacotherapy and/or ablation are minimal. Although left cardiac sympathetic denervation (LCSD) is well established in long QT syndrome (LQTS) and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), LCSD’s role in idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF) is less clear. Here, we report our single-center experience regarding the early outcomes of LCSD in patients with IVF.
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<jats:bold>Hypothesis:</jats:bold>
To determine the efficacy of LCSD on reducing VAs in IVF patients refractory to conventional therapy.
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<jats:bold>Methods:</jats:bold>
A retrospective analysis of the electronic health record of patients with IVF between January 2000 to April 2023 was performed. Cardiac event rates [defined as arrhythmic syncope/seizure, appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy, sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), or sudden cardiac death (SCD)] before and after LCSD for each patient were calculated and a Wilcoxon signed rank test was performed.
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<jats:bold>Results:</jats:bold>
In total, 94 patients (41% female) were classified as IVF. Overall, 15/94 patients (16%) had LCSD due to refractory VAs (60% male; mean age at LCSD 36 ± 20 years) despite beta-blocker treatment (100%) or combined drug therapy (67%). In total, 14 patients (15%) had an electrophysiology study performed before LCSD of which 10 (67%) had VAs ablation. All patients had a structurally normal heart and genetic testing performed in 14/15 patients (93%) confirmed absence of genetic cardiomyopathies and channelopathies. SCA was the sentinel event in 10 of 15 patients (67%); 14 patients (93%) had an ICD in place. The average follow-up time after LCSD was 3 ± 4 years. The VA event rate before LCSD was 4 ± 3 events per year and was reduced to 1 ± 3 per year (p<0.04) after LCSD. Patients had a median of 3.2 less events per year after LCSD (p=0.02) with 7 patients (47%) having no post-LCSD recurrences thus far while 3 (20%) patients were deemed LCSD non-responders with no reduction of event rate.
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<jats:bold>Conclusions:</jats:bold>
LCSD represents a substrate-independent, anti-fibrillatory treatment option for patients with life-threatening, genetic arrhythmias. While not curative, the early outcomes of LCSD for patients with medically refractory IVF are promising.
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