Does radiofrequency catheter ablation of frequent PVCs improve left ventricular function in a patient with apparent dilated cardiomyopathy?
Frequent premature ventricular complexes can cause reversible left ventricular dysfunction, and radiofrequency catheter ablation can normalize cardiac function in these patients.
Tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy is a well-known and reversible condition, but the left ventricular dysfunction caused by frequent isolated premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) has been rarely reported. Apparent dilated cardiomyopathy was resolved in a patient after the focal source of PVCs was eliminated by radiofrequency catheter ablation. Echocardiography showed progressive improvement of the abnormal wall motion. Frequent PVCs could be the cause of left ventricular dysfunction in a subset of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and radiofrequency ablation should be the choice of therapy in those patients.
Shiraishi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.