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Catheter ablation outcomes similar in elderly patients with ventricular tachycardia
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Advanced age was not a cause for preclusion of catheter ablation in the elderly when compared with a younger population, according to study findings.
Researchers performed radiofrequency catheter ablation in 289 consecutive patients with recurrent postinfarct ventricular tachycardia (VT) refractory to antiarrhythmic drugs between January 1999 and September 2008. After excluding four patients who underwent ethanol or cryothermal ablation, researchers compared mortality and outcomes of the remaining elderly population (age ≥75 years; n=72) vs. the younger one (age <75 years; n=213).
According to the results, inducible VTs were abolished or modified in 79.2% of the elderly population and 87.8% of the younger population. Major complications, including cardiogenic shock, cardiac tamponade and cerebral infarction, occurred in 5.6% of elderly patients and 2.3% of younger patients. Periprocedural mortality was similar between the groups (2.8% elderly vs. 4.2% younger). During a mean follow-up of 42 months, 50% of the elderly group and 35.2% of the younger group died. Among those patients, no VT was observed in 63.9% of the elderly patients and 60.1% of the younger patients at a mean follow-up of 18 months.
“The risks and outcomes in selected elderly patients with recurrent VT who are referred for catheter ablation are similar to that of younger patients,” the researchers concluded. “Advanced age should not preclude ablation when recurrent VT is adversely affecting quality of life in elderly patients who otherwise have a reasonable expectation for survival.”
Inada K. Heart Rhythm. 2010;7:740-744.
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