Pulse Field Ablation for Post-Infarction Ventricular Tachycardia: the ASCEND Pilot Study
ASCEND is a randomized controlled open-label pilot study evaluating the safety and effectiveness of pulsed field ablation (PFA) with the novel FARAPOINT catheter compared to the standard radiofrequency (RFA) ablation with ThermoCool ST/FlexAbility SE/ThermoCool ST SF/TactiFlex SE of ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). The study hypothesis is that the PFA ablation is more efficient compared to the RFA technique but retains a comparable safety profile.
• Age ≥18 years.
• Ischemic heart disease with prior myocardial infarction.
• Left ventricular ejection fraction ≥20% estimated by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) within 90 days prior to enrollment.
• Documented sustained monomorphic VT with any of the following characteristics:
‣ ≥2documented episodes in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD)
⁃ ≥1 documented episode(s) in patients without ICD
⁃ Recurrent VT despite antiarrhythmic medications (ineffective, contraindicated or not tolerated) or ICD interventions
• Provision of signed and dated informed consent form.
• Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study.