CardioExchange Archive

September 11th, 2014

Race and Ethnicity Do Not Affect the Benefits of Device Therapy in Heart Failure

Boback Ziaeian, MD

Boback Ziaeian discusses his observational study exploring the benefits of guideline-recommended cardiac resynchronization therapy and ICD therapy in heart failure patients, according to race and ethnicity.

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March 30th, 2014

MADIT-CRT Long-Term Follow-Up Shows Survival Benefit with CRT-D

Larry Husten, PHD

MADIT-CRT was an influential trial that showed a reduction in heart failure complications — but not mortality — when cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) was added to an implantable defibrillator in patients with mild heart failure who also had left bundle-branch block (LBBB). Patients in the trial were followed for 2.4 years, raising questions about the long-term effects […]

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September 19th, 2013

A Novel Navigation System for CRT Device Implantation

Sergio Richter, MD

Sergio Richter discusses his research group’s study of a non–fluoroscopy-based tracking system that can be used when implanting a CRT device.

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September 3rd, 2013

Study Fails to Support Broader Patient Population for Cardiac-Resynchronization Therapy

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study from the Echo-CRT study group shows that CRT is not beneficial in patients with HF and a narrow QRS complex and may even be harmful.

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August 19th, 2013

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: August 19th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include treating to risk, not to target; perceived job insecurity as a risk factor for incident CHD; ischemic preconditioning in patients undergoing CABG, and more.

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August 13th, 2013

Observational Study Lends Support to CRT Guidelines

Larry Husten, PHD

A large observational study published in JAMA suggests that patients with left bundle-branch block (LBBB) and longer QRS duration derive the most benefit from a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D). The findings appear to support current, but often criticized, guidelines from the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and the Heart Rhythm Society, in which a class I […]

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May 12th, 2013

How Should Recent Trials Affect CRT Practice?

Sana M Al-Khatib, MD, MHS and John Ryan, MD

In recent weeks the cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) field has been absorbing the publication of the BLOCK HF trial in the New England Journal of Medicine and the publication of the NARROW-CRT trial in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. These trials raised the possibility that CRT may improve clinical status in some patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy […]

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April 26th, 2013

Conflicting Results from Two Trials of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

Larry Husten, PHD

Two new trials have ended up reporting conflicting results regarding the expansion of the indication for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) for patients without a wide QRS interval.  The positive results of the smaller trial seem likely to be undermined by the early stopping of the much larger trial. The first trial, NARROW-CRT, published in Circulation: Arrhythmia […]

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April 24th, 2013

BLOCK HF: CRT Superior to Conventional Pacing in Heart Failure Patients with AV Block

Larry Husten, PHD

Patients with atrioventricular (AV) block generally receive right ventricular (RV) pacing; cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been restricted to patients with a low ejection fraction and a wide QRS duration. However, RV pacing may worsen LV dysfunction in AV block patients with low ejection fractions. Previous studies have raised the possibility that these patients may […]

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March 1st, 2013

ACC and HRS Release Appropriate Use Criteria for ICDs and CRTs

Larry Husten, PHD

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) today published appropriate use criteria for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). The document offers an expert consensus on the appropriateness of  369 separate real-life clinical scenarios in six areas: ICDs for secondary prevention, ICDs for primary prevention, comorbidities, CRT devices, generator replacement, […]

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