Treatment

The goals of ventricular tachycardia treatment are:

• Restore a normal heart rhythm
• Control the fast heart rate when it occurs
• Prevent future episodes of tachycardia

The specific treatment you receive depends on what is causing the arrhythmia and the type or severity of your ventricular tachycardia.

Ventricular tachycardia may go away on its own within 30 seconds (nonsustained V-tach) or last more than 30 seconds (sustained V-tach or VT ). Sustained VT can disrupt normal blood flow and requires immediate medical treatment.

Treatment for sustained ventricular tachycardia

Sustained ventricular tachycardia often requires urgent medical treatment, as this condition may sometimes lead to sudden cardiac death.

Treatment involves restoring a normal heart rate by delivering a jolt of electricity to the heart. This may be done using a defibrillator or with a treatment called cardioversion.

Defibrillation can be done using an automated external defibrillator (AED) by a bystander who recognizes the signs of cardiac arrest.

Cardioversion is done in a hospital setting using a machine that monitors your heart rhythm before and after shocks are delivered. In this procedure, medical professionals shock your heart using paddles, an automated external defibrillator (AED) or patches on your chest.

You may also be given medications by mouth or by IV (intravenously).

Preventing episodes of a fast heart rate

With treatment, it may be possible to prevent or manage episodes of ventricular tachycardia.

• Catheter ablation. This procedure is often used when a discrete electrical pathway is responsible for an increased heart rate.

  In this procedure, a doctor inserts catheters into your heart through the veins in your groin, arm or neck. Electrodes at the catheter tips can use extreme cold or radiofrequency energy to damage (ablate) the extra electrical pathway and prevent it from sending electrical signals.

• Medications. Anti-arrhythmic medications may prevent a fast heart rate when taken regularly. Other heart medications, such as calcium channel blockers and beta blockers, may be prescribed with anti-arrhythmic drugs.
• Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. If you're at risk of having a life-threatening tachycardia episode, your doctor may recommend an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). The pager-sized device is surgically implanted in your chest. The ICD continuously monitors your heartbeat, detects an increase in heart rate and delivers precisely calibrated electrical shocks, if needed, to restore a normal heart rhythm.

• Surgery. Open-heart surgery may be needed in some cases to treat a process contributing to ventricular tachycardia (for example, if there are blockages in blood vessels).

  Tachycardia may also be treated with a maze procedure. During this procedure, a surgeon makes small incisions in heart tissue to create a pattern or maze of scar tissue. Because scar tissue doesn't conduct electricity, it interferes with stray electrical impulses that cause some types of tachycardia.

  Surgery is usually used only when other treatment options don't work or when surgery is needed to treat another heart disorder.

Monitor and treat existing disease

If another medical condition is contributing to ventricular tachycardia, such as heart disease, treating the underlying problem may prevent or reduce ventricular tachycardia episodes.

Following your treatment plan is important. It can help lower your risk of future heart rhythm problems. If your symptoms change or get worse or you develop new symptoms, tell your doctor immediately.