Thoracic Epidural Anesthesia Can Be Effective for the Short-Term Management of Ventricular Tachycardia Storm

Update on prevention and treatment of sudden cardiac arrest

Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of cardiovascular mortality, posing a substantial public health burden. The incidence and epidemiology of sudden death are a function of age, with primary arrhythmia syndromes and inherited cardiomyopathies representing the predominant causes in younger patients, while coronary artery disease being the leading etiology in those who are 35 years of age and older. Internal cardioverter defibrillators remain the mainstay of primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac arrest. In the acute phase, cardiac chain of survival, early reperfusion, and therapeutic hypothermia are the key steps in improving outcomes. In the chronic settings, ventricular tachycardia ablation has been shown to improve patients' quality of life by reducing frequency of defibrillator shocks. Moreover, recent studies have suggested that it may increase survival. Neuromodulation represents a novel therapeutic modality that has a great potential for improving treatment of ventricular arrhythmias.

Effective Use of Percutaneous Stellate Ganglion Blockade in Patients With Electrical Storm

Background:

Percutaneous stellate ganglion blockade (SGB) has been used for drug-refractory electrical storm due to ventricular arrhythmia (VA); however, the effects and long-term outcomes have not been well studied.

Methods:

This study included 30 consecutive patients who had drug-refractory electrical storm and underwent percutaneous SGB between October 1, 2013, and March 31, 2018. Bupivacaine, alone or combined with lidocaine, was injected into the neck with good local anesthetic spread in the vicinity of the left stellate ganglion (n=15) or both stellate ganglia (n=15). Data were collected for patient clinical characteristics, immediate and long-term outcomes, and procedure-related complications.

Results:

Clinical characteristics included age, 58±14 years; men, 73.3%; and left ventricular ejection fraction, 34±16%. At 24 hours, 60% of patients were free of VA. Patients whose VA was controlled had a lower hospital mortality rate than patients whose VA continued (5.6% versus 50.0%; P =0.009). Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator interrogation showed a significant 92% reduction in VA episodes from 26±41 to 2±4 in the 72 hours after SGB ( P <0.001). Patients who died during the same hospitalization (n=7) were more likely to have ischemic cardiomyopathy (100% versus 43.5%; P =0.03) and recurrent VA within 24 hours (85.7% versus 26.1%; P =0.009). There were no procedure-related major complications.

Conclusions:

SGB effectively attenuated electrical storm in more than half of patients without procedure-related complications. Percutaneous SGB may be considered for stabilizing ventricular rhythm in patients for whom other therapies have failed.

Neuromodulation for the Treatment of Heart Rhythm Disorders

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Derangement of autonomic nervous signaling is an important contributor to cardiac arrhythmogenesis.

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Modulation of autonomic nervous signaling holds significant promise for the prevention and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.

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Further clinical investigation is necessary to establish the efficacy and safety of autonomic modulatory therapies in reducing cardiac arrhythmias.

There is an increasing recognition of the importance of interactions between the heart and the autonomic nervous system in the pathophysiology of arrhythmias. These interactions play a role in both the initiation and maintenance of arrhythmias and are important in both atrial and ventricular arrhythmia. Given the importance of the autonomic nervous system in the pathophysiology of arrhythmias, there has been notable effort in the field to improve existing therapies and pioneer additional interventions directed at cardiac-autonomic targets. The interventions are targeted to multiple and different anatomic targets across the neurocardiac axis. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the rationale for neuromodulation in the treatment of arrhythmias and to review the specific treatments under evaluation and development for the treatment of both atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias.

Update in Electrical Storm Therapy

BACKGROUND

Electrical storm (ES) is a major life-threatening event, which announces a possible negative outcome and poor prognosis and poses challenging questions concerning etiology and management.

DATA SOURCES

A literature search was conducted through MEDLINE and EMBASE (past 30 years until the end of September 2018) using the following search terms: ES, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, ablation, and implantable defibrillator. Clinicaltrials.gov was also consulted for studies that are ongoing or completed. Additional articles were identified through bibliographical citations.

AREA OF UNCERTAINTY

There is no homogeneous attitude, and therapeutic strategies vary widely.

THERAPEUTIC ADVANCES

The aim of this review is to define the concept of ES, to review the incidence and prognostic implications, and to describe the most common strategies of therapeutic advances and trends. The management strategy should be decided after an accurate risk stratification is done in initial evaluation according to hemodynamic tolerability and presence of triggers and comorbidities. General care should be provided in an intensive cardiovascular care unit. The cornerstone of acute medical therapy used in ES is mainly represented by amiodarone and beta-blockers. Deep sedation and mechanical ventilation should provide comfort for treatment administration. First-choice drugs are benzodiazepines and short-acting analgesics. General care may also include thoracic epidural anesthesia to modulate neuroaxial efferents to the heart and to decrease sympathetic hyperactivity. We include a special focus on ablation as a reliable tool to target the mechanism of arrhythmia, finally building an up-to-date standardization.

CONCLUSIONS

ES management needs a complex assessment and interpretation of a critical situation in a life-threatening condition. Optimal implantable cardioverter-defibrillator-reprogramming, antiarrhythmic drug therapy and sedation are in first-line approach. Catheter ablation is the elective therapy and plays a central key role in the treatment of ES if possible in combination with hemodynamic support.

Thoracic Epidural Blockade for Ventricular Tachycardia Storm in Patient with Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

Introduction

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is acute nonischemic myocardial dysfunction of the left and/or right ventricle which usually recovers completely within several days to weeks. We report a case where thoracic epidural analgesia was used to manage sympathetic storm in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Case description

A 58-year-old diabetic female who was being treated for urinary tract infection and diabetic ketoacidosis for the past 2 days sustained an episode of pulseless ventricular tachycardia which was treated as per ACLS protocol. Troponin levels were raised, and 2D echocardiography was showing "Takotsubo cardiomyopathy" with typical apical ballooning of the left ventricle at the time of admission, and she was mechanically ventilated and receiving vasopressors. She continued to get episodes of ill-sustained ventricular tachycardia. In spite of conventional management, episodes of ill-sustained ventricular tachycardia continued, and hence, sympathetic blockade with thoracic epidural catheter was administered to control the ventricular tachycardia storm.

Conclusion

Sympathetic blockade to treat ventricular tachycardia is a promising approach which needs to be validated with more evidence.

How to cite this article

Ashwini J, Durgesh M, Girish D. Thoracic Epidural Blockade for Ventricular Tachycardia Storm in Patient with Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy. IJCCM 2019;23(11):529-532.

Antiarrhythmic effects of stimulating the left dorsal branch of the thoracic nerve in a canine model of paroxysmal atrial tachyarrhythmias

BACKGROUND

Stellate ganglion nerve activity (SGNA) precedes paroxysmal atrial tachyarrhythmia (PAT) episodes in dogs with intermittent rapid left atrial (LA) pacing. The left dorsal branch of the thoracic nerve (LDTN) contains sympathetic nerves originating from the stellate ganglia.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that high-frequency electrical stimulation of the LDTN can cause stellate ganglia damage and suppress PATs.

METHODS

We performed long-term LDTN stimulation in 6 dogs with and 2 dogs without intermittent rapid LA pacing while monitoring SGNA.

RESULTS

LDTN stimulation reduced average SGNA from 4.36 μV (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.10-4.62 μV) at baseline to 3.22 μV (95% CI 3.04-3.40 μV) after 2 weeks (P = .028) and completely suppressed all PAT episodes in all dogs studied. Tyrosine hydroxylase staining showed large damaged regions in both stellate ganglia, with increased percentages of tyrosine hydroxylase-negative cells. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay showed that 23.36% (95% CI 18.74%-27.98%) of ganglion cells in the left stellate ganglia and 11.15% (95% CI 9.34%-12.96%) ganglion cells in the right stellate ganglia were positive, indicating extensive cell death. A reduction of both SGNA and heart rate was also observed in dogs with LDTN stimulation but without rapid LA pacing. Histological studies in the 2 dogs without intermittent rapid LA pacing confirmed the presence of extensive stellate ganglia damage, along with a high percentage of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling-positive cells.

CONCLUSION

LDTN stimulation damages both left and right stellate ganglia, reduces left SGNA, and is antiarrhythmic in this canine model of PAT.

Mechanisms and management of refractory ventricular arrhythmias in the age of autonomic modulation

Ventricular arrhythmias are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. Catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) is an essential component of the management of these life-threatening arrhythmias. However, in many patients, despite medical and interventional therapy, VT recurs. Furthermore, some VT substrates (mid-myocardial, left ventricular summit, and intraseptal) are not easily targeted because of limitations of currently available technology. In certain clinical settings, ventricular fibrillation (VF) episodes that have premature ventricular contraction triggers can also be targeted with catheter ablation. However, in most patients there is no clear VF trigger to target, and therefore polymorphic VT or VF cannot be adequately treated with catheter ablation. The autonomic nervous system plays a crucial role in all aspects of ventricular arrhythmias, yet interventions specific to the cardiac neuronal axis have been largely underutilized. This underutilization has been most pronounced in patients with structural heart disease. However, there is a growing body of literature on the physiology and pathophysiology of cardiac neural control and the benefits of neuromodulation to treat refractory ventricular arrhythmias in these patients. We present case-based examples of neuromodulatory interventions currently available and a review of the literature supporting their use.

Team Management of the Ventricular Tachycardia Patient

Ventricular tachycardia is a common arrhythmia in patients with structural heart disease and heart failure, and is now seen more frequently as these patients survive longer with modern therapies. In addition, these patients often have multiple comorbidities. While anti-arrhythmic drug therapy, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation and ventricular tachycardia ablation are the mainstay of therapy, well managed by the cardiac electrophysiologist, there are many other facets in the care of these patients, such as heart failure management, treatment of comorbidities and anaesthetic interventions, where the expertise of other specialists is essential for optimal patient care. A coordinated team approach is therefore essential to achieve the best possible outcomes for these complex patients.