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BMJ Publishing Group, Open Heart, 2(8), p. e001770, 2021

DOI: 10.1136/openhrt-2021-001770

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Cardiac stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for control of refractory ventricular tachycardia: initial UK multicentre experience

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

BackgroundOptions for patients with ventricular tachycardia (VT) refractory to antiarrhythmic drugs and/or catheter ablation remain limited. Stereotactic radiotherapy has been described as a novel treatment option.MethodsSeven patients with recurrent refractory VT, deemed high risk for either first time or redo invasive catheter ablation, were treated across three UK centres with non-invasive cardiac stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). Prior catheter ablation data and non-invasive mapping were combined with cross-sectional imaging to generate radiotherapy plans with aim to deliver a single 25 Gy treatment. Shared planning and treatment guidelines and prospective peer review were used.ResultsAcute suppression of VT was seen in all seven patients. For five patients with at least 6 months follow-up, overall reduction in VT burden was 85%. No high-grade radiotherapy treatment-related side effects were documented. Three deaths (two early, one late) occurred due to heart failure.ConclusionsCardiac SABR showed reasonable VT suppression in a high-risk population where conventional treatment had failed.