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 […]
March 27th, 2013
Left to Our Many Devices, Which One Do We Choose?
Mark Dayer, MD PhD FRCP and James Fang, MD
A 63-year-old male smoker with type 2 diabetes presents for the first time with chest pain and shortness of breath at rest. He has no recent history of viral infection and no family history of heart failure or sudden cardiac death. Initial laboratory testing documents negative troponin, normal calcium, normal serum angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) activity, and a […]
February 14th, 2011
CRT Found Beneficial in Less Severe Heart-Failure Patients
Larry Husten, PHD
Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) appears to be beneficial in patients with less severe heart failure (NYHA class I and II), according to a new systematic review published online in Annals of Internal Medicine. In a previous analysis, Nawaf Al-Majed and colleagues had found that CRT was highly beneficial in HF patients with NYHA class III and IV […]