title: Device trials in heart failure: a focused summary.
abstract: Despite considerable progress in heart failure management with pharmacologic agents, measures to bring about significant improvements in morbidity and mortality are still needed. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a means to enhance myocardial function by stimulating the failing left ventricle at or near the time of right ventricular activation to synchronize ventricular depolarization. Current data from randomized, controlled trials suggest that CRT benefits patients with moderate to severe heart failure and have shown that this therapy significantly reduces mortality and hospital admissions in this group. In addition to CRT, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators have been evaluated in heart failure patients with significantly reduced left ventricular function and have been shown to reduce mortality from sudden cardiac death. This article summarizes recent device trials and discusses how best to apply their results to clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: New England Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, Division of Cardiology, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hedrich
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weinstock
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Link
authors.forename: Munther
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Homoud
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Estes
mesh_terms: D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid; D006278:Medicare; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D014481:United States