Electrical storm in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in the era of catheter ablation: Implications for better rhythm control

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator programming and electrical storm: Results of the OBSERVational registry On long-term outcome of ICD patients (OBSERVO-ICD)

“…This was expected, as ES has long been considered as an independent risk factor for non-sudden cardiac death. 1,17 Moreover, the present data add evidence to the hypothesis that, in patients with structural heart disease, ES can be considered as a clinical manifestation of HF worsening. In fact, a previous 5-year observation showed that HF was the primary cause of total mortality in patients with ES and sudden cardiac death became an exceptional event in patients with an ICD, 18 consistently with the lack of reported arrhythmic deaths in our population during 3-year follow-up.…”

Electrical Storm in ICD Recipients with Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy

“…18,33 In the modern era of cardiology, VT ablation has become the first choice of recurrent or incessant arrhythmia or for patients not responding to AAD. 21 Previous studies demonstrated that RFCA of VT has an acute success rate of 60-90%; however, the relapse of VT might be as high as 90% during long-term follow-up due to the progressive nature of the disease. 25,26 In order to completely erase VT in ARVC patients, relatively larger regional lesions are necessary, which might accelerate degeneration of RV function.…”

“…Electrical storm (ES) is not a rare phenomenon among recipients of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), with a prevalence ranging from 4% to 40% in various patient populations . It represents severe electrical instability of the heart muscle, comprises the quality of patients’ life, and may even presage subsequently increased mortality …”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] It represents severe electrical instability of the heart muscle, comprises the quality of patients' life, and may even presage subsequently increased mortality. [3][4][5]14,[18][19][20][21][22] Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a rare inherited disease pathologically characterized by the progressive infiltration of fibrofatty tissue into normal cardiomyocytes. Some patients may be at high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) due to the recurrence of spontaneous ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF), and an ICD is believed to be the most reliable management for those patients.…”

An inappropriate pacing threshold increase after repeated electrical storm in a patient with implantable cardioverter defibrillator

“…Electrical storm (ES), characterized by multiple attacks of VT or ventricular fibrillation (VF), is an unstable condition for which management and prevention are still a challenge. Whether ES is a causal factor or only an epiphenomenon remains unclear, although it is still a matter for debate that repeated shocks may provoke myocardial damage and result in further deterioration of the underlying disorders [ 4 ].…”