Mechanism, diagnosis, and treatment of outflow tract tachycardia

Abstract

Idiopathic ventricular arrhythmia is a generic term for a spectrum of arrhythmias that occur in the absence of structural heart disease or ion channelopathy. These arrhythmias include monomorphic premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), nonsustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT), and sustained VT. Most idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias originate from the right and left ventricular outflow tracts and include sites accessed from the aortic sinuses of Valsalva. Outflow tract arrhythmia is identified by an electrocardiographic pattern consistent with a left bundle branch block inferior axis morphology. Characteristically, outflow tract VT is caused by cAMP-mediated triggered activity, and is terminated by administration of adenosine. Outflow tract arrhythmias are focal and, therefore, are readily amenable to definitive treatment with catheter-based radiofrequency ablation. Although arrhythmia might be associated with reversible PVC-mediated cardiomyopathy, and infrequently with PVC-induced polymorphic VT or ventricular fibrillation, prognosis is generally favourable.