Repetitive monomorphic ventricular tachycardia]

To evaluate retrospectively clinical features of repetitive monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (RMVT).Files of 11 patients with RMVT were analyzed (9 females, mean-age 37 +/- 17 years). All patients were submitted to clinical evaluation, ECG, Holter monitoring stress test, high-resolution ECG and echocardiogram; they were treated with antiarrhythmic drugs.Patients were in NYHA class I or II, 9 asymptomatics and 2 with palpitations. The ECG was normal in all of them. Cardiac memory was observed in 3. A left bundle branch block with inferior axis deviation in the frontal plane was present during RMVT in all patients (right ventricular outflow tract focus). Holter monitoring revealed mean of 12031 +/- 8345 isolated PVC/24h; 2892 +/- 234 ventricular couplets/24h and 1367 +/- 890 VTs/24h (mainly nonsustained). In 6 patients RMVT was suppressed during maximal exercise treadmill. High-resolution ECG was negative in all group. Five patients had a normal echocardiogram while 5 showed mitral valve prolapse. One patient developed tachycardiomyopathy. The arrhythmia was controlled with 320mg of oral sotalol in 3 of 4 that used this drug and with 120mg oral propranolol in one of 6 that used this drug. Drug resistance was present in the others. The mean follow-up period was 38 +/- 16 months.The results demonstrate that RMVT is a benign form of VT with no detectable anatomic substract by the currently used methods. It is probably induced by nonreentrant mechanism and frequently drug resistance is observed. Among the antiarrhythmic drugs commonly used, sotalol showed to be the most effective.