Catheter Ablation
The clinical VT was of right bundle branch block-like (RBBB) morphology
in 254 patients (80%) and mean procedure duration was 4 ± 2 hours.
Ninety-four (30%) patients underwent LV ablation through a transseptal
approach and 179 (57%) through the retro aortic route. Epicardial
ablation was performed in 61 (19%) patients and 53 (17%) patients were
subject to a combined endocardial and epicardial ablation (C-ABL),
either simultaneously (N=12) or at different procedures (N=41) (figure
1). One hundred and five (33%) patients underwent more than one
ablation. Only 12 patients were treated with a C-ABL in the first
procedure, with the remaining having mostly 1 previous (redo) ablation.
The mean number of ablations was 1 ± 1, from 1 to 4 procedures, and most
of the patients were only treated with one ablation (N=211, 67%). Only
six (2%) patients underwent 3 or 4 procedures. At the end of the
procedure, complete success was achieved in 83% of the patients, while
only partial success in 14% of the patients and in 3% the ablations
were unsuccessful in eliminating the clinical VT. The mean duration of
hospital stay was of 12 ± 11 days.