International Electrical Storm Registry
International Electrical Storm Registry
Organized ventricular arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia (VT), torsades de pointes (TdP)
 and ventricular fibrillation (VF)) represent a major event in the clinical history of a
 patient and they can lead to hemodynamic instability and sudden cardiac death (SCD).
 Recurrences of ventricular arrhythmias and electrical instability have exponentially
 increased in the last decades and a new clinical entity called "electrical storm" (ES) has
 emerged as major morbidity and mortality factor. The ES is defined as a cluster of 3 or more
 sustained ventricular arrhythmias within 24 hours, or a sustained ventricular tachycardia
 lasting 12 hours or more and that does not respond to treatments.

 Most of the patients presenting ES are already implanted with an ICD. This is due to 3
 factors: first, patients with ICD implant are at higher risk to develop ventricular
 arrhythmias for the cardiac disease that led to the ICD implant. Second, the device records
 and treats also asymptomatic or poor symptomatic arrhythmic episodes that otherwise would not
 be detected. Third, and more important, the device gives the possibility to survive to an
 arrhythmic episode, making it possible for the patient to experience an ES. The incidence of
 ES is debated in different studies and ranges from 10 to 60% in patients with ICD for
 secondary prevention and from 4 to 7% in patients with ICD for primary prevention.

 The aim of the ELECTRA registry is twofold:

 1. To create an international registry on clinical features, optimal therapy, ablation
 strategy, prognosis and the effect of ICD programming on patients with ES.

 2. To use the data derived from the registry for a prospective, observational study on
 mortality and rehospitalization rate in patients with ES.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Diagnosis of ES (documentation of 3 or more episodes of sustained ventricular
 arrhythmia within 24h or documentation of sustained ventricular tachycardia lasted at
 least 12h).In order to fulfill this criterion, a patient with a previous episode of ES
 could also be enrolled during routine screening.

 -  Age ≥18

 -  Written informed consent

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  patient without ICD

 -  Confirmed or suspected use of drugs or narcotics with known direct pro-arrhythmic
 effect

 -  Inability to express an informed consent for the study