Thoracoscopic left ventricular lead implantation in cardiac resynchronization therapy

Cardiac resynchronization therapy is known to reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with advanced heart failure as a result of dyssynchrony and systolic dysfunction of the left ventricle. Placement of the left ventricular (LV) lead via the coronary sinus can be difficult. When LV lead implantation is difficult, a video-assisted epicardial approach can be a good alternative. Although there are several reports of video-assisted epicardial LV lead implantation, mini-thoracotomy and lead implantation under direct vision have been used in most series. A 49-yr-old woman with dilated cardiomyopathy underwent the video-assisted epicardial LV lead implantation because percutaneous transvenous approach was difficult due to small cardiac veins. The patient was discharged without problems and showed improved cardiac function at the 3 follow-up months. We report the first successful total thoracoscopic LV lead implantation (without mini-thoracotomy) in Korea.