Idiopathic VT

Idiopathic Ventricular Tachycardia (VT), occurs in structurally normal hearts and comprises about 10% of VT cases. This is a more benign form of VT, with patients rarely suffering from sudden cardiac death.  Definitive treatment includes medications or ablation.  

Patients presenting to the emergency department with this arrhythmia, can be cardioverted and some will respond to AV nodal blockers such as Adenosine or Calcium Channel Blockers or Beta Blockers. However, even if the arrhythmia reverts with these, the patient should still be discussed with cardiology, especially if they fit the particular ECG patterns discussed below. Idiopathic VT can be mistaken for a supra ventricular tachycardia(SVT) with aberrancy and it will respond in some cases to AV nodal blockers, just like an SVT with aberrancy, so beware. However there are some distinct differences in morphology and axis, that allow us to identify it.

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