April 29th, 2013
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: April 29th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include the association of perioperative beta-blockade with mortality and CV morbidity following major noncardiac surgery, intestinal microbial metabolism of phosphatidylcholine and CV risk, and more.
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 […]
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 […]