Cardiac resynchronization therapy: long-term alternative to cardiac transplantation?
BACKGROUND
Cardiac transplantation remains the gold standard for treating end-stage heart failure. However, because of donor shortage and posttransplant complications alternative options are needed.


METHODS
We investigated the impact of cardiac resynchronization therapy on clinical outcome in 545 patients with left bundle-branch block and interventricular asynchrony, who fulfilled the cardiac criteria for cardiac transplantation listing. Primary end point was heart failure death. Secondary end points were New York Heart Association class, functional (cardiopulmonary exercise tolerance, 6-minute hall walk distance), and morphologic (left ventricular end-diastolic diameter) factors.


RESULTS
The average follow-up period was 39.6 months (standard deviation, 26.1 months). In total, 1,784 years of observation were accrued. The percentage of nonresponders (no functional and morphologic improvement during follow-up) was 21.2%. One-year and 3-year freedom from heart failure death was 92.3% and 77.3%, respectively. Functional variables improved, but the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter decreased during the first 6 months of cardiac resynchronization therapy only in patients who survived during follow-up. Under cardiac resynchronization therapy, 42.5% (n = 34) of the cardiac transplantation candidates with atrial fibrillation at baseline returned to sinus rhythm.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that cardiac resynchronization therapy is a reliable long-term therapeutic option for the treatment of end-stage heart failure and intraventricular asynchrony.
Hansky
Bert
B
Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Heart- and Diabetes Center North-Rhine Westfalia, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. bhansky@hdz-nrw.de
Vogt
Jürgen
J
Zittermann
Armin
A
Güldner
Holger
H
Heintze
Johannes
J
Schulz
Uwe
U
Horstkotte
Dieter
D
Tenderich
Gero
G
Körfer
Reiner
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002037:Bundle-Branch Block / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013318:Stroke Volume; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014850:Waiting Lists; D055815:Young Adult