Prognostic Impact of the Timing of Recurrence of Infarct-Related Ventricular Tachycardia After Catheter Ablation

Catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) may reduce implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shocks and improve quality of life, but recurrence of VT after ablation is common and has been shown to be a strong predictor of mortality. However, not all recurrences may confer the same prognostic impact. A previous single-center study indicated that VT recurrence within a few days after ablation is associated with an adverse outcome, but it is unclear whether VT recurrences beyond the early postablation period affect survival to the same extent. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the timing of VT recurrence on prognosis in a large multicenter sample of patients who underwent VT ablation for infarct-related VT.