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Background: Successful bipolar radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) of refractory ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) has been reported. However, the efficacy, safety, and long-term outcomes of bipolar RFCA of VAs are not fully determined., Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of bipolar RFCA in treating refractory VAs during long-term follow-up., Methods: Eighteen patients who underwent bipolar RFCA for ventricular tachycardia (VT) at 7 institutions were retrospectively investigated. Underlying heart diseases included remote myocardial infarction (n = 3 [17%]) and nonischemic cardiomyopathy (n = 15 [83%]). Although unipolar RFCA was performed in all patients, either it failed to suppress VT or VT recurred. The interventricular septum, left ventricular free wall, and left ventricular summit were targeted for bipolar RFCA., Results: Acute success (VT termination and/or noninducibility) was achieved with bipolar RFCA in 16 patients (89%). Complications during the procedure included complete atrioventricular block (n = 2) and coronary artery stenosis (n = 1). One patient underwent chemical ablation after bipolar RFCA failure. At 12-month follow-up, VT reoccurred in 8 patients (44%). However, in patients with recurrence, VT burden had decreased: only 4 patients underwent re-RFCA, and only 1 of the 4 required chemical ablation. In the remaining 4 patients, re-RFCA was not required, as VT was controlled by medication or an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator., Conclusion: Bipolar RFCA is useful for acute suppression of refractory VT. Although VT recurrence rates during long-term follow-up were relatively high, we observed a significant reduction in VT burden., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The voltage map during sinus rhythm (SR) is a cornerstone of substrate mapping (SM) in scar-related ventricular tachycardia (VT) and frequently used with pace mapping (PM). Where to conduct PM is unclear in cases of an extensive or unidentified substrate. Conduction properties are another aspect incorporated by SM, and conduction slowing has gained interest as being related to successful ablation, although its mechanism has not been elucidated. We aimed to investigate the relationship between SR conduction properties and VT isthmuses., Methods: Nineteen patients (mean age, 62 years) who underwent VT ablation with voltage mapping and PM were reviewed. Isochronal late activation maps (ILAMs) with eight zones were reconstructed and sequentially named from one to eight according to the SR propagation. Good PM sites were superimposed on ILAMs, and the isthmus was defined using different pacing latencies. ILAM properties harboring isthmuses were investigated., Results: Twenty-eight ILAMs (13 epicardium, 1 right ventricular [RV], and 14 left ventricular [LV] endocardium) were reviewed. Eighteen isthmuses of 24 target VTs were identified, in which the proximal ends were in a later zone than the distal ends (zone 6 vs 4; P < .001), suggesting a reverse isthmus vector to the SR. The conduction velocity of the zone involving the distal isthmus was significantly lower than that of the SR preceding zone (0.40 vs 1.30 m/s; P < .001). SR conduction velocity decelerated by 69.5% (range 59.7%-74.5%) before propagating into the isthmus area., Conclusion: Conduction slowing area during SR were related with the exit portion of the VT isthmuses., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Introduction: While characteristic waveforms of 12-lead electrocardiograms have been reported to predict the epicardial origin of ventricular tachycardia (VT), it has not been fully examined whether ventricular intracardiac electrograms (VEGMs) recorded from the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) via telemetry can determine the origin of VT or not. The aim of this study was to investigate the VEGM characteristics of VT originating from the epicardia., Method and Results: Intracardiac VEGMs of the induced VTs, with detected sites of origin during the VT study, were recorded in 15 (23 VTs) of the 46 patients. The characteristics of the 23 VTs were evaluated using far-field and near-field VEGMs recorded via telemetry. Five of 23 VTs were found to be focused on the epicardial site (epi group) and 18 VTs were focused on the endocardium (endo group). VTs of the epi group had longer VEGM duration in far-field EGM than those of the endo group (epi group: 240 ± 49 ms vs endo group: 153 ± 45 ms; P = 0.002) and the duration from the onset to the peak of VEGM was also longer than that of the endo group (epi group: 153 ± 53 ms vs endo group: 63 ± 28 ms; P < 0.001). There was no difference in the V wave duration in tip-ring EGM between both groups (epi group: 122 ± 52 ms vs endo group: 98 ± 6 ms; P = 0.377)., Conclusion: Evaluation of intracardiac VEGM before VT ablation may be helpful to predict the epicardial origin of VT in patients with an ICD., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

A 47-year-old man underwent slow pathway ablation for slow-fast atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. Following the procedure, he felt palpitations while swallowing, and swallowing-induced atrial tachycardia was diagnosed. Swallowing-induced atrial tachycardia arose from the right atrium-superior vena cava junction and was cured by catheter ablation. After the procedure, the patient's heart rate variability changed significantly, indicating suppression of parasympathetic nerve activity. In this case, swallowing-induced atrial tachycardia was related to the vagal nerve reflex. Analysis of heart rate variability may be helpful in elucidating the mechanism of swallowing-induced atrial tachycardia.