The benefit of cardiac resynchronization therapy with a defibrillator (CRT-D) relative to implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy alone has not been evaluated in routine clinical practice. This study used data from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry’s ICD Registry linked with Medicare claims data to compare outcomes after CRT-D and ICD implantation in community practice. The analysis […]
Tag: CRT
No Benefit from Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in Patients with a Narrow QRS Complex
Cardiac-resynchronization therapy (CRT) has known benefits in patients with severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction and prolonged QRS duration (>120 ms). However, up to half of patients with systolic dysfunction appear to have left ventricular dyssynchrony by echocardiographic measures, despite a QRS duration of less than 120 ms. As a result, CRT is often used for […]
Biventricular pacing for bradycardia
Right ventricular (RV) pacing is used in patients presenting with high degree atrioventricular block, both to relieve symptoms related to bradycardia and improve prognosis. The majority of these patients are elderly and many of them will have a degree of co-existing left ventricular dysfunction which may be exacerbated by the electrical and mechanical dyssynchrony that […]
Infective endocarditis caused by cardiac devices
The number of electronic cardiac devices, including pacemakers and cardioverter-defibrillators, being implanted each year is increasing. As a result, there has been a 210% increase in the incidence of device infection between 1993 and 2008 in the United States. Cardiac device infective endocarditis (CDIE) is significant in that it is associated with a higher mortality […]