Anticoagulation therapy for endocardial/epicardial ablation of infarct-related ventricular tachycardia in a patient with antithrombin deficiency.

UNLABELLED: In patients with a history of antithrombin deficiency, a direct thrombin inhibitor may be considered as an alternative to intraprocedural anticoagulation. A 55-year-old woman with antithrombin deficiency and prior myocardial infarction suffered from electrical storm and appropriate defibrillator shocks. Substrate mapping guided left ventricular endocardial and epicardial ablations were successfully performed. The direct thrombin inhibitor, argatroban, was safely used as intraprocedural anticoagulation therapy with no complications.

LEARNING

OBJECTIVE

Optimal anticoagulation during endocardial and epicardial catheter ablation is essential to prevent thromboembolic and bleeding complications. Although patients with infarct-related electrical storm and antithrombin deficiency require unusual attention to anticoagulation, argatroban, a direct thrombin inhibitor, was safely used as intraprocedural anticoagulation therapy during catheter ablations, with no complications.