Arrhythmias & electrophysiologyResearch article
Value of Left Ventricular Low Voltage Area and Ejection Fraction in Predicting End-Stage Heart Failure Outcomes After Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation in Patients With Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
- Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis
Authors' conclusion
In patients with NICM undergoing ventricular tachycardia ablation, unipolar LVA and LVEF are independent predictors of end-stage HF outcomes. Integrating these predictors yields a prognostic score to identify patients at the highest risk of end-stage HF outcomes.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) and left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) <50% undergoing ventricular tachycardia ablation from 2019 to 2023patients with NICM
- Participants
- One hundred eleven patients
- Comparison
- Associations between unipolar/bipolar low-voltage areas (LVAs) and end-stage HF outcomes
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
End-stage HF outcomes:
- HF death
- LV assist device implantation
- Heart transplant
patients experienced end-stage HF outcomes
28 (25.2%)
Further findings
| Outcome | Estimate | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Association with end-stage HF risk (multivariable) — Unipolar LVA · independently associated with higher end-stage HF risk | hazard ratio 1.03 per 1% increase (95% CI 1.01–1.05) | P = 0.002 | |
| Association with end-stage HF risk (multivariable) — LVEF · independently associated with higher end-stage HF risk | hazard ratio 1.04 per 1% decrease (95% CI 1.00–1.09) | P = 0.03 | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Association with end-stage HF risk (multivariable)
| Comparison | hazard ratio (1% increase) (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| bipolar LVA · not independently associated | 0.98 (0.96–1.01) | P = 0.25 | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
3-point risk score (unipolar LVA ≥70% (2 points), 35% to 70% (1 point), and LVEF ≤25% (1 point)) for predicting end-stage HF in scores ≥2
- sensitivity
- 82.1%
- specificity
- 77.1%
- based on the Youden index
Original publication
Value of Left Ventricular Low Voltage Area and Ejection Fraction in Predicting End-Stage Heart Failure Outcomes After Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation in Patients With Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. Published 8 October 2026. doi:10.1161/circep.126.014886
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it