Background
Treatment options for patients with recurrent ventricular arrhythmias refractory to pharmacotherapy and ablation are minimal. Although left cardiac sympathetic denervation (LCSD) is well established in long-QT syndrome, its role in non-long-QT syndrome arrhythmogenic channelopathies and cardiomyopathies is less clear. Here, we report our single-center experience in performing LCSD in this setting.
Methods and Results
In this institutional review board-approved study, we retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of all patients (N=91) who had videoscopic LCSD at our institution from 2005 to 2011. Data were analyzed for the subset (n=27) who were denervated for an underlying diagnosis other than autosomal dominant or sporadic long-QT syndrome. The spectrum of arrhythmogenic disease included catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (n=13), Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome (n=5), idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (n=4), left ventricular noncompaction (n=2), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (n=1), ischemic cardiomyopathy (n=1), and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (n=1). Five patients had LCSD because of high-risk assessment and β-blocker intolerance, none of whom had a sentinel breakthrough cardiac event at early follow-up. Among the remaining 22 previously symptomatic patients who had LCSD as secondary prevention, all had an attenuation in cardiac events, with 18 having no breakthrough cardiac events so far and 4 having experienced ≥1 post-LCSD breakthrough cardiac event.
Conclusions
LCSD may represent a substrate-independent antifibrillatory treatment option for patients with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia syndromes other than long-QT syndrome. The early follow-up seems promising, with a marked reduction in the frequency of cardiac events postdenervation.
Although outcomes have improved markedly, further optimization of treatment strategies is still needed given that 1 in 4 previously symptomatic patients experienced at least 1 subsequent, albeit nonlethal, LQTS-triggered cardiac event.
Despite the anticipated side effects associated with LCSD, patients are satisfied with their surgery and indicate that they would recommend the surgery to another patient.
Although sports participation is a risk taking behavior in undiagnosed and untreated CPVT, the risk may be acceptable for a well-treated and well-informed athlete following the diagnosis of CPVT.
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