Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment of ventricular arrhythmias in heart failure

Ventricular arrhythmias are common in patients with heart failure. The risk and benefits of antiarrhythmic therapies continue to be defined. Class I antiarrhythmic drugs should be avoided due to proarrhythmic and negative inotropic effects that may be responsible for increased mortality in some trials. For patients resuscitated from sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation, amiodarone or an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator should be considered. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators markedly reduce sudden death in ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation survivors, but in advanced heart failure, this may not markedly extend survival. Catheter or surgical ablation can be considered for selected patients with bundle branch reentry ventricular tachycardia or difficult to control monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. For patients who have not had sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation antiarrhythmic therapy should generally be avoided, but may benefit some high risk patients. Amiodarone may be beneficial in patients with advanced heart failure and rapid resting heart rates. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators may improve survival in selected patients with depressed ventricular function after myocardial infarction, who also have nonsustained and inducible ventricular tachycardia.