<p>The first randomised trial to investigate preventive ablation of a potential arrhythmogenic substrate associated with coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) in patients at high risk of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) reduces the risk of appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy and unplanned hospitalisation in patients with no previously recorded VAs. The late-breaking science is presented at EHRA 2024, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).</p>
<p>Principal investigator Dr. David Zizek of the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia said: “In everyday clinical practice, ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation is still often regarded as a last resort in the management of patients with ischaemic cardiomyopathy. We hypothesised that ablation early in the course of the disease, when patients have a lower burden of comorbidities, might be associated with fewer periprocedural complications and improved clinical outcomes compared to withholding the procedure until several ICD shocks have occurred. Our study shows that a primary prevention ablation strategy can be a safe and effective treatment option to prevent ICD interventions and arrhythmia-related hospitalisations.”</p>