The clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of patients with idiopathic ventricular tachycardia

: Clinical and electrophysiological characteristics in 20 patients with clinical ventricular tachycardia and normal hearts documented by physical examination, echocardiography, and angiocardiography were analysed. There were 11 males and 9 females. All patients had sustained ventricular tachycardia without hemodynamic instability during tachycardia. A right bundle branch block morphology of ventricular tachycardia was present in 14 patients and left bundle branch block morphology in six patients. During electrophysiologic studies, ventricular tachycardia was induced in 10/15 (66%) patients. Intravenous verapamil terminated the ventricular tachycardia in 9/10 (90%) of cases. However oral verapamil not prevented recurrences. Among 14 patients on whom exercise tests were performed, only two had exercise-induced ventricular/tachycardia. Late potentials were positive in 3/14 (21%) cases and one patient died suddenly during exercise without antiarrhythmic drugs.