State of the Art: Mapping Strategies to Guide Ablation in Ischemic Heart Disease

Catheter ablation to prevent ventricular tachycardia (VT) that emerges late after a myocardial infarction aims to interrupt the re-entry substrate. Interruption of potential channels and regions of slow conduction that can be identified during stable sinus or paced rhythm is often effective and a number of substrate markers for guiding this approach have been described. While there is substantial agreement with different markers in some patients, the different markers select different regions for ablation in others. Mapping during VT to identify critical re-entry circuit isthmuses is likely more specific, and most useful when VT is incessant or frequent during the procedure or when sinus rhythm substrate ablation fails. Both approaches are often combined. These methods for identifying and characterizing post-infarct-related arrhythmia substrate and the re-entry circuits are reviewed.