Management of ventricular tachycardia in heart failure.

Overview

Ventricular tachyarrhythmias are common in patients with congestive heart failure. The clinical presentation ranges from an asymptomatic incidental electrocardiographic finding to palpitations, syncope, and sudden cardiac death. Although implantable cardioverter defibrillators successfully prevent sudden cardiac death associated with ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, recurrent implantable cardioverter defibrillators shocks remain a clinical management challenge. In this review, we discuss management strategies of ventricular tachycardia in congestive heart failure, including drug therapy, radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA), and recent RFCA advances.