Cryoablation of Papillary Muscles at Surgery for Malignant Ventricular Arrhythmias Due to Mitral Valve Prolapse.

Background: Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is relatively common condition and while generally benign a small subset of patient suffers from malignant ventricular arrhythmias (MVA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD).

Method And Material: We report three cases of mitral valve prolapse, mitral regurgitation and malignant ventricular arrhythmias refractory to medical therapy, who had surgical cryoablation at the time of surgery on the mitral valve.

Results: During a follow-up period ranging from 3 to 11 years all three patients have remained free of ventricular arrhythmias and cryoablation lesions targeting the base of the papillary muscles have not caused any detrimental effect on the valve function.

Conclusion: Surgical cryoablation of papillary muscles as described in this article should be considered in MVP who suffer from MVA, aborted SCD or frequent ventricular ectopics likely to cause LV dysfunction.