Benign symptomatic premature ventricular complexes: short− and long−term efficacy of antiarrhythmic drugs and radiofrequency ablation

Abstract

Background: There is little data on the long-term efficacy of antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) and radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) in patients with symptomatic premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) and no organic heart disease.
Aim: To evaluate the short- and long-term efficacy and tolerance of AAD therapy and RFCA in patients with idiopathic PVCs.
Methods: This was a prospective, crossover, open-label study performed in 84 consecutive patients (mean age 47 ± 15 years; 60% women) with symptomatic idiopathic PVCs (mean PVCs/24 h, 13,768 ± 9,424; range 1,693–42,687). Patients were treated for 2–3 weeks with metoprolol, propafenone or verapamil. Then patients were referred for RFCA, if they had drug intolerance, inefficacy or did not wish to have prolonged AAD treatment.
Results: The most efficacious agent was propafenone, followed by verapamil, and then metoprolol [35 (42%), 13 (15%) and eight (10%) responders, respectively, p < 0.01 vs propafenone]. Only responders to drug treatment had a significant reduction in symptom severity (Visual Analogue Scale score: 6.2 ± 1.4 vs 2.7 ± 2.0, p < 0.001). After AAD, 50 (60%) patients underwent RFCA. During long-term follow-up (48 ± 10 months), RFCA (mean 1.2 procedures/patient) was effective in 44/50 (88%) patients. Of the 34 remaining patients, 21 remained on effective AAD, 6 patients remained on ineffective AAD, and 7 patients were taken off AADs therapy due to spontaneous remission of PVCs or a decrease in symptom severity.
Conclusions: Short-term treatment with propafenone was more effective than verapamil or metoprolol in suppressing idiopathic PVCs. However, optimal benefit was achieved with RFCA, which was effective and safe during long-term follow-up.