Introduction
Premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) are frequently encountered cardiac arrhythmias that become more prevalent with advancing age. In fact, approximately 50% of individuals over 50 years of age, regardless of the presence of heart disease, exhibit PVCs during extended monitoring1,2. Catheter ablation (CA) has proven to be more effective than pharmacological treatments in reducing PVC burden and enhancing both left and right ventricular function3-5. Approximately 80% of patients achieve long-term relief following CA, although the procedure entails a 4% risk of complications. Outcomes are typically less favorable for PVCs originating from non-outflow tract (non-OT) locations, and there is a significant need to improve the success rates of CA for these cases3,4,6. Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) provides high-quality, real-time imaging of the heart and has been extensively adopted in both diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac interventions7. Observational data have indicated that the application of ICE during ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation procedures correlates with a reduced incidence of major complications8,9. According to the latest expert consensus on ICE, its use could be particularly beneficial for the catheter ablation of non-OT origin PVCs7. Nonetheless, it remains to be determined whether ICE-assisted CA leads to better outcomes or a decrease in complications for patients with frequent PVCs. The goal of the current study is to evaluate the immediate and long-term success as well as the periprocedural complication rates of CA in patients with frequent PVCs or non-sustained VT, comparing outcomes between those who underwent ICE-assisted CA and those who did not.