Catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia related to a septo-apical left ventricular aneurysm

A 60-year-old male patient with previous myocardial infarction (30 years ago) presented to our cardiology department for sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. The patient presented multiple episodes of tachycardia treated by his internal cardiac defibrillator. Radiofrequency ablation was proposed as curative treatment. The mechanism of the ventricular tachycardia was demonstrated by electrophysiological study using three-dimensional mapping system: Carto 3 (Biosense Webster). Ventricular tachycardia was induced either mechanically or by programmed ventricular stimulation. The tachycardia cycle length was 380 msec. The voltage map confirmed the presence of the septo-apical aneurysm with a local voltage <0.5 mV. Activation mapping revealed a figure-in-8 circuit of VT with the entrance point inside the dense scar and the exit point at the border zone (between the aneurysm and the healthy tissue of the left ventricular septo-apical region). Radiofrequency energy was delivered at the isthmus of the tachycardia rendering it uniducible by programmed ventricular stimulation.