Ventricular tachycardic storm with a chronic total coronary artery occlusion treated with percutaneous coronary intervention.

A 66-year-old man with a history of coronary artery disease was evaluated due to ventricular tachycardic (VT) storm. The patient continued to have frequent recurrences of VT despite treatment with amiodarone and lidocaine. Since the ventricular arrhythmia could be related to myocardial ischemia related to a chronic total occlusion (CTO) of the right coronary artery, the patient underwent successful percutaneous coronary intervention of the CTO, followed by implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation. He had no further episodes of VT during his hospital stay. After 9 months of follow-up, he had no further chest pain or clinically apparent recurrent ischemia. Interrogation of his defibrillator has shown brief nonsustained episodes of ventricular tachycardia, but the patient has not required delivery of a shock. The temporal association between treatment of the CTO and resolution of the VT, as well as the lack of recurrence of sustained VT, suggest a causative link between underlying ischemia produced by a chronically occluded coronary artery and provocation of VT and lend supportive evidence to this treatment approach.