Prophylactic Substrate Ablation in Post-myocardial Patients Undergoing Defibrillator Implantation.
Prophylactic Substrate Ablation in Post-myocardial Patients Undergoing Defibrillator Implantation.
Prophylactic substrate ablation in post-MI patients undergoing defibrillator implantation
 reduces appropriate defibrillator therapies.
Background In patients with Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) and structural heart disease, the
 Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), provides a significant protection against the
 risk of sudden death, however it does not prevent arrhythmia recurrences [1-7]. ICD
 therapies, especially shocks, pose several risks, including decreased quality of life,
 increased mortality among patients who suffer ICD shock compared with patients who do not and
 clinically significant anxiety and depression as a result of recurrent ICD shocks, which has
 been found to occur in more than 50% of patients [8-12]. Furthermore, ICD implantation has
 been found not to protect against sudden cardiac death in 3-7% of patients [13].

 The benefit of novel ICD programming in reducing inappropriate ICD therapy and mortality was
 demonstrated in Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial-Reduce Inappropriate
 Therapy (MADIT-RIT) [14]. Catheter ablation has been considered a plausible curative therapy
 for VT prevention, especially in patients with VT episodes [15]. The Substrate Mapping and
 Ablation in Sinus Rhythm to Halt Ventricular Tachycardia (SMASH-VT) and the Ventricular
 Tachycardia Ablation in Coronary Heart Disease (VTACH) found that prophylactic catheter
 ablation reduces the incidence of appropriate ICD therapy in patients who had undergone ICD
 implantation as a means of secondary prevention and had a history of myocardial infarction
 (MI) [16,17]. It was also shown in a small retrospective study that prophylactic catheter
 ablation for induced VT reduced the incidence of appropriate ICD therapy in primary
 prevention post-MI patients [18].

 Aim of the study - Statement of Hypothesis Prophylactic substrate ablation in post-MI
 patients undergoing defibrillator implantation reduces appropriate defibrillator therapies.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Post-MI patients eligible for ICD implantation in the setting of primary prevention

 Exclusion Criteria:

 1. NYHA IV or ambulatory NYHA IV

 2. Acute coronary syndrome in the last 40 days

 3. Stable angina not eligible to revascularization

 4. Revascularization in the last 3 months (except MI)

 5. Antiarrhythmic therapy other than b-blockers

 6. LVEF<20%

 7. GFR<30ml/min/1.73m2

 8. Systematic illnesses