Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41626882›Full record

SynthesisEuropace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology2026

Heterogeneity of outcomes reporting in catheter ablation trials for ventricular tachycardia: a systematic review.

Deepti Ranganathan, Mark T Mills, Vadivelu Ramalingam, Sara Vazquez-Calvo, Andrea Quaiattini, Jacqueline Joza, Vidal Essebag, Atul Verma

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Deepti RanganathanMcGill University Hospital - Division of Cardiology, D13.173, 1650 Cedar Ave, Montreal, H3G 1A4, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-6888-4154
Mark T MillsLiverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Thomas Dr, Liverpool L14 3PE, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-5425-7739
Vadivelu RamalingamMcGill University Hospital - Division of Cardiology, D13.173, 1650 Cedar Ave, Montreal, H3G 1A4, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-7195-3648
Sara Vazquez-CalvoMcGill University Hospital - Division of Cardiology, D13.173, 1650 Cedar Ave, Montreal, H3G 1A4, Canada.
Andrea QuaiattiniMcGill University Hospital - Division of Cardiology, D13.173, 1650 Cedar Ave, Montreal, H3G 1A4, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-4977-060X
Jacqueline JozaMcGill University Hospital - Division of Cardiology, D13.173, 1650 Cedar Ave, Montreal, H3G 1A4, Canada.
Vidal EssebagMcGill University Hospital - Division of Cardiology, D13.173, 1650 Cedar Ave, Montreal, H3G 1A4, Canada.
Atul VermaMcGill University Hospital - Division of Cardiology, D13.173, 1650 Cedar Ave, Montreal, H3G 1A4, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-1020-9727

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsWe sought to systematically catalogue and compare outcomes definitions across prospective clinical trials and registries evaluating ablation in VT to assess the impact of heterogeneous definitions on reported outcomes. METHODS AND

resultsA systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD 42024595265) was performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. We searched for prospective studies from January 2000 to November 2024. Randomized trials, single-arm feasibility studies, and prospective registries involving ≥10 patients undergoing VT ablation were included. Study outcomes and their definitions were extracted and categorized. Pooled analyses were performed for comparable randomized trial subgroups, and meta-regression evaluated the effect of VT outcome definitions on reported success and complications. Fifty-nine studies were included: 15 randomized trials, 6 feasibility studies, and 38 prospective studies/registries. Definitions of acute procedural success varied, with most using acute clinical VT non-inducibility and others using only elimination of the clinical VT. VT recurrence was the most frequently reported long-term outcome; however, definitions differed markedly (VT recurrence or recurrence causing device therapy). Pooled analysis of prophylactic ablation vs. delayed ablation showed reduced VT recurrence (HR 0.63, 95% CI: 46-0.86) but no difference in hospitalization or mortality. Meta-regression demonstrated that an outcome of any VT recurrence yielded a higher failure rate of 51.0% compared to stricter definitions, such as VT-causing therapy at 37.3% or VT-causing shock only at 23.4% (P = 0.002). Safety outcomes were inconsistently reported.

conclusionOutcome definition in VT ablation trials showed substantial heterogeneity, limiting cross-trial comparability and meta-analytic synthesis. Development of a minimum set of standardized outcomes for VT ablation may improve consistency and clinical interpretability of VT trials.

Indexed as

Catheter AblationTachycardia, VentricularHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRecurrenceRegistriesTreatment OutcomeCatheter ablationCore outcome setReported outcomesVentricular tachycardia

Identifiers

PMID41626882
PMCPMC12862643

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.