Current Management of Ventricular Arrhythmias

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a life-threatening arrhythmia that requires a comprehensive treatment approach unique to a patient’s comorbidities and heart condition. As electrophysiologist William Maddox, MD, explains, patients with a structurally normal heart can often manage VT with various medications, while those with myopathies also require defibrillator (ICD) implantation and catheter ablation. He explains the advances in catheter ablation technology that have resulted in success rates as high as 90%, depending on the patient’s substrate metabolism. Research has shown that early referral for catheter ablation reduces a patient’s number of ICD shocks and improves outcomes.