Mechanism-Specific Therapy of Ventricular Tachycardia

Arrhythmia Mechanisms and Therapy. An understanding of the mechanisms responsible for experimental and clinical arrhythmias has led to the development of mechanism-specific therapies for ventricular tachycardia. These include: (1) beta blockade for catecholamine-sensitive ventricular tachycardia; (2) verapamil for ventricular tachycardia possibly due to triggered activity; (3) pacing, isoproterenol and magnesium tberapy for torsade de pointes possibly due to early afterdepolarizations; (4) catheter ablation of the right bundle for bundle branch reentry tachycardia; and (5) catheter ablation of the zone of slow conduction for ventricular tachycardia due to reentry. Hopefully, further progress will be made in removing some of tbe empiricism from antiarrhythmic therapy.