Gilbert Gottfried died from a long illness. What is ventricular tachycardia?

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried died Tuesday at 67, after what his family said was "a long illness." His representative said Gottfried's death was caused by a heart rhythm problem called recurrent ventricular tachycardia, which resulted from myotonic dystrophy type II.

Cardiologist Dr. Ernst von Schwarz joined The Morning News to discuss Gottfried condition and how the rare illness is treated.

Gottfried was a fiercely independent and intentionally bizarre comedian’s comedian, as likely to clear a room with anti-comedy as he was to kill with his jokes. He first came to national attention with frequent appearances on MTV in its early days and as a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s. Gottfried also did voice work for children’s television and movies, most famously playing the parrot Iago in Disney’s “Aladdin.”