by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | December 18, 2017
Six weeks following the procedure, patients experienced a decrease in episodes, with a total of 680 episodes together. The number then dropped to almost zero after the first six weeks, which doctors deemed the recovery period, to the point where patients were able to slowly come off medication for controlling their arrhythmias. A one year follow-up found patients had experienced a total of four such events in the course of that time with two not experiencing any at all.
One patient over the age of 80 died one month after treatment from unlikely related causes. Two of the remaining four, all in their 60s, now live unassisted without ventricular tachycardia. One, whose arrhythmia continues to be controlled, suffers from gradual heart failure and has received a left ventricular assist device. Another underwent a successful heart transplant but was on the waiting list for a new one prior to undergoing the procedure.
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The authors caution that more research is required before the approach can be used on younger, healthier patients or be considered as a standard therapy for this condition or other heart arrhythmias.
"In theory, this could be used to treat a more common arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation. We are actively investigating that as a possibility," senior author Clifford G. Robinson, an associate professor of radiation oncology, told HCB News. "However, we felt it was key to focus our initial efforts on the patients who had the fewest available options, and with the most life-threatening disease. In contrast to ventricular tachycardia, there are many effective and safe options for atrial fibrillation."
“A lot of my work is focused on reducing toxicity of radiation therapy using modern technology,” Robinson said. “These patients have done quite well in the first 12 months after therapy, which is enough time to see the early toxicities. But we’re continuing to monitor patients for long-term side effects.”
Physicians continue to monitor the participants for long-term radiation side effects, such as lung scarring and further damage to the heart, and are currently enrolling patients in a clinical trial to further study this approach, which has been performed 23 times to date.
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