Permanent ventricular tachycardia: prognostic and therapeutic problems: three case reports]

The permanent ventricular tachycardia (PVT) represent a rare and dangerous arrhythmia that causes prognostic and therapeutic difficulties. Three patients admitted during last year for PVT complicating ischemic cardiomyopathy in two cases and idiopathic cardiomyopathy in the last case. These patients were admitted from emergency department for sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. The ECG showed wide QRS tachycardia of ventricular origin. The direct current shock (DCS) has revealed ECG criteria of old myocardial infarction in two cases. The transthoracic echocardiography displayed dilated left ventricule (LV) with 35% mean ejection fraction. It also showed the presence of LV aneurysm in one case. The cardiac catheterization showed proximal left anterior descending artery obstruction in one patient and left circomflex artery stenosis in other patient. There was no indication of revascularization because of the age of myocardial infarction. The follow-up of these patients demonstrated the persistence of the VT for at least 6 days with recurrence after the DCS and resistant to Lidocaïne-Amiodarone association. The sinus rhythm was established by the propranolol-Amiodarone in one patient, Amiodarone added to treatment of congestive heart failure for the patient with ventricular aneurysm. The third patient died after one week of PVT complicated by cardiogenic shock just before a trial of radiofrequency ablation (RFA). We concluded through these cases that PVT is a troublesome arrhythmia for more than one reason. It appears of tewly in patients with advanced cardiomyopathy worsening the hemodynamic conditions oftenly the pharmacological treatment is mostly always difficult. The treatment of choice is RFA for those resistant to medical treatment.