Introduction: Cryocatheter techniques have been successfully applied to treat supraventricular tachycardia but there are no reports on their value in treating ventricular tachycardia (VT). We present our initial experience with cryocatheter ablation of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) tachycardia.
Methods and results: Cryocatheter ablation was attempted in 14 patients (13 females, age 45.9 +/- 12.7 years) who were highly symptomatic due to frequent monomorphic ventricular extrasystole (VES) or nonsustained VT originating within the RVOT. A 9-Fr, 8-mm-tip cryocatheter was used for both mapping and ablation. Cryoablation was started after localizing the arrhythmic focus by pace and activation mapping. Ablation success, defined by complete disappearance of target VES/VT acutely and during a follow-up of 9.3 +/- 1.4 weeks, was achieved in 13 of 14 patients. Ablation was successful with local activation times of 35 +/- 4 ms, 5.8 +/- 3.3 applications, 18.8 +/- 7.5 minutes total cryo time, 9.4 +/- 4.2 minutes fluoroscopy time, and 66.9 +/- 26.1 minutes total procedure time, the latter two measures showing a reduction with number of patients treated. Three patients reported slight pain related to local pressure of the catheter on the RVOT wall. No pain was described related to delivery of cryothermal energy.
Conclusions: Initial experience shows that focal VES/VT originating in the RVOT can be successfully treated using cryocatheter ablation. Acute and short term success rates, fluoroscopy times, and duration of procedure are comparable to conventional ablation techniques. A major advantage seems to be the virtual absence of ablation related pain.