Key result
A single 25 Gy fraction of stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR) successfully treated refractory ventricular tachycardia in a patient with advanced heart failure, with no recurrence of sustained VT or VF over 3 months.
Why the study?
Catheter ablation for refractory ventricular arrhythmias can have suboptimal efficacy and high complication risks, prompting the use of stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation.
Does Stereotactic Arrhythmia Radioablation (STAR) prevent recurrent ventricular tachycardia in a patient with advanced heart failure and refractory VT?
Case Report (n=1)
No
Does Stereotactic Arrhythmia Radioablation (STAR) prevent recurrent ventricular tachycardia in a patient with advanced heart failure and refractory VT?
STAR with highly personalized inter- and intra-fractional image guidance is a feasible and potentially effective non-invasive treatment for refractory ventricular tachycardia in patients with advanced heart failure.
STAR may be feasible for refractory ventricular arrhythmias in enlarged LV; leaves open prospective validation of efficacy and safety.
Introduction: Although catheter ablation is the current gold standard treatment for refractory ventricular arrhythmias, sometimes its efficacy is not optimal and it's associated with high risks of procedural complication and death. Stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR) is increasingly being adopted for such clinical presentation, considering its efficacy and safety. Case Presentation: We do report our experience managing a case of high volume of left ventricle for refractory ventricular tachycardia in advanced heart failure patient, by delivering a single fraction of STAR through an highly personalization of dose delivery applying repeated inter- and continuous intra-fraction image guidance. Conclusion: According to the literature reports, we recommend considering increasing as much as possible the personalization features and safety technical procedure as long as that is not significantly affecting the STAR duration. Moreover, the duration in itself shouldn't be the main parameter, but balanced into the frame of possibly obtainable outcome improvement. At best of our knowledge, this is the first report applying such specific technology onto this clinical setting. Future studies will clarify these issues.
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Narducci et al. (2020) conducted a case report in Refractory ventricular tachycardia in advanced heart failure (n=1). Stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR) was evaluated on Recurrence of sustained VT or VF. A single 25 Gy fraction of stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR) successfully treated refractory ventricular tachycardia in a patient with advanced heart failure, with no recurrence of sustained VT or VF over 3 months.
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