BACKGROUND: Reducing sympathetic output to the heart from the neuraxis can protect against ventricular arrhythmias. The purpose of this study was to assess the value of thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) and left cardiac sympathetic denervation (LCSD) in the management of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with structural heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: Clinical data of 14 patients (25 to 75 years old, mean+/-SD of 54.2+/-16.6 years; 13 men) who underwent TEA, LCSD, or both to control ventricular tachycardia (VT) refractory to medical therapy and catheter ablation were reviewed. Twelve patients were in VT storm, and 2 experienced recurrent VT despite maximal medical therapy and catheter ablation procedures. The total number of therapies per patient before either procedure ranged from 5 to 202 (median of 24; 25th and 75th percentile, 5 and 56). Eight patients underwent TEA, and 9 underwent LCSD (3 patients had both procedures). No major procedural complications occurred. After initiation of TEA, 6 patients had a large (> or =80%) decrease in VT burden. After LCSD, 3 patients had no further VT, 2 had recurrent VT that either resolved within 24 hours or responded to catheter ablation, and 4 continued to have recurrent VT. Nine of 14 patients survived to hospital discharge (2 TEA alone, 3 TEA/LCSD combined, and 4 LCSD alone), 1 of the TEA alone patients underwent an urgent cardiac transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of TEA and LCSD in patients with refractory VT was associated with a subsequent decrease in arrhythmia burden in 6 (75%) of 8 patients (68% confidence interval 51% to 91%) and 5 (56%) of 9 patients (68% confidence interval 34% to 75%), respectively. These data suggest that TEA and LCSD may be effective additions to the management of refractory ventricular arrhythmias in structural heart disease when other treatment modalities have failed or may serve as a bridge to more definitive therapy.
BACKGROUND: Reducing sympathetic output to the heart from the neuraxis can protect against ventricular arrhythmias. The purpose of this study was to assess the value of thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) and left cardiac sympathetic denervation (LCSD) in the management of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with structural heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: Clinical data of 14 patients (25 to 75 years old, mean+/-SD of 54.2+/-16.6 years; 13 men) who underwent TEA, LCSD, or both to control ventricular tachycardia (VT) refractory to medical therapy and catheter ablation were reviewed. Twelve patients were in VT storm, and 2 experienced recurrent VT despite maximal medical therapy and catheter ablation procedures. The total number of therapies per patient before either procedure ranged from 5 to 202 (median of 24; 25th and 75th percentile, 5 and 56). Eight patients underwent TEA, and 9 underwent LCSD (3 patients had both procedures). No major procedural complications occurred. After initiation of TEA, 6 patients had a large (> or =80%) decrease in VT burden. After LCSD, 3 patients had no further VT, 2 had recurrent VT that either resolved within 24 hours or responded to catheter ablation, and 4 continued to have recurrent VT. Nine of 14 patients survived to hospital discharge (2 TEA alone, 3 TEA/LCSD combined, and 4 LCSD alone), 1 of the TEA alone patients underwent an urgent cardiac transplantation. CONCLUSIONS:Initiation of TEA and LCSD in patients with refractory VT was associated with a subsequent decrease in arrhythmia burden in 6 (75%) of 8 patients (68% confidence interval 51% to 91%) and 5 (56%) of 9 patients (68% confidence interval 34% to 75%), respectively. These data suggest that TEA and LCSD may be effective additions to the management of refractory ventricular arrhythmias in structural heart disease when other treatment modalities have failed or may serve as a bridge to more definitive therapy.
Authors: Etienne M Aliot; William G Stevenson; Jesus Ma Almendral-Garrote; Frank Bogun; C Hugh Calkins; Etienne Delacretaz; Paolo Della Bella; Gerhard Hindricks; Pierre Jaïs; Mark E Josephson; Josef Kautzner; G Neal Kay; Karl-Heinz Kuck; Bruce B Lerman; Francis Marchlinski; Vivek Reddy; Martin-Jan Schalij; Richard Schilling; Kyoko Soejima; David Wilber Journal: Heart Rhythm Date: 2009-06 Impact factor: 6.343
Authors: D V Exner; S L Pinski; D G Wyse; E G Renfroe; D Follmann; M Gold; K J Beckman; J Coromilas; S Lancaster; A P Hallstrom Journal: Circulation Date: 2001-04-24 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Peter J Schwartz; Silvia G Priori; Marina Cerrone; Carla Spazzolini; Attilio Odero; Carlo Napolitano; Raffaella Bloise; Gaetano M De Ferrari; Catherine Klersy; Arthur J Moss; Wojciech Zareba; Jennifer L Robinson; W Jackson Hall; Paul A Brink; Lauri Toivonen; Andrew E Epstein; Cuilan Li; Dayi Hu Journal: Circulation Date: 2004-03-29 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Olujimi A Ajijola; Daigo Yagishita; Naveen K Reddy; Kentaro Yamakawa; Marmar Vaseghi; Anthony M Downs; Donald B Hoover; Jeffrey L Ardell; Kalyanam Shivkumar Journal: Heart Rhythm Date: 2015-01-30 Impact factor: 6.343
Authors: Edmond M Cronin; Frank M Bogun; Philippe Maury; Petr Peichl; Minglong Chen; Narayanan Namboodiri; Luis Aguinaga; Luiz Roberto Leite; Sana M Al-Khatib; Elad Anter; Antonio Berruezo; David J Callans; Mina K Chung; Phillip Cuculich; Andre d'Avila; Barbara J Deal; Paolo Della Bella; Thomas Deneke; Timm-Michael Dickfeld; Claudio Hadid; Haris M Haqqani; G Neal Kay; Rakesh Latchamsetty; Francis Marchlinski; John M Miller; Akihiko Nogami; Akash R Patel; Rajeev Kumar Pathak; Luis C Saenz Morales; Pasquale Santangeli; John L Sapp; Andrea Sarkozy; Kyoko Soejima; William G Stevenson; Usha B Tedrow; Wendy S Tzou; Niraj Varma; Katja Zeppenfeld Journal: J Interv Card Electrophysiol Date: 2020-10 Impact factor: 1.900