title: Cardiac resynchronization therapy is an important advance in the management of congestive heart failure.
abstract: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an emerging therapy that improves symptoms and exercise tolerance in patients with advanced heart failure, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, and intraventricular conduction delay. By correcting the AV, interventricular, and intraventricular dyssynchrony induced by conduction disorders, controlled studies have shown that CRT improved functional status, decreased heart failure hospitalization rate, and might have a positive effect on left ventricular remodeling. Recent and preliminary data from the COMPANION trial suggest that CRT alone or in association with defibrillator capacity significantly reduced total mortality and hospitalization and that total mortality was significantly reduced only in the CRT plus implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) group. Many questions remain unanswered, particularly the selection of responder patients.
authors.affiliation: Département de Cardiologie et Maladies Vasculaires, Centre Cardio-Pneumologique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Rennes, France. christophe.leclercq@chu-rennes.fr
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leclercq
authors.forename: J Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Daubert
mesh_terms: D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D010346:Patient Care Management / Q000379:methods*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000639:trends*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*