The “Heart Rhythm Case Reports”, scientific journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, published on October 9 an article on the case of a cardiac patient treated by Hospital da Luz Lisboa Cardiology and Radio Oncology teams , using a stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation technique (STAR). This was the first time STAR was used in Portugal, being a relatively new and non-invasive approach for the treatment of resistant ventricular tachycardia or not treatable through catheter ablation. The study now published was elaborated in the context of a research project financed by the “Luz Research” program of Hospital da Luz Learning Health, destined to projects developed in the units of Luz Saúde group. The authors of the study are cardiologists Ana Leonor Parreira , António Miguel Ferreira , Diogo Cavac o and Pedro Adragão , radio-oncologist Francisco Mascarenhas and medical physicist Sara Germano. Ventricular tachycardia is responsible for nearly half of the deaths in patients with structural cardiopathy. Stereotactic ablation represents a new opportunity of treatment for these patients , in particular when the therapeutic of catheter ablation fails or is contraindicated. In the conclusions of the investigation now published, the team reports that the recourse to STAR technique has had a positive impact on the patient in question. The article – entitled “Defining the target for stereotactic radioablation of ventricular tachycardia: the combination of cardiac imaging and electrocardiographic information matters” – can be consulted HERE .
