title: Criteria for patient selection in cardiac resynchronization therapy.
abstract: Since the implementation of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) the prognosis of patients with severe heart failure has been improved owing to a reduction in morbidity and mortality rates, as several multicenter trials have shown. However, several patients treated by CRT still lack improvement or even deteriorate during therapy. In some of them, this might be due to the severity and progression of chronic heart failure. In others, the criteria for the indication of CRT and/or optimized device programming might have not been met. Thus, one important option to improve CRT outcome is to improve CRT patient selection. A lot of publications describing various methods identifying a positive or negative prediction of CRT have been released. In summary, decision making based on all these partly contradictory publications indicate a strong need for guidelines for the use of such expensive therapy. The purpose of this article is to give an overview of CRT and summarize the different methods and the limitations of CRT patient selection parameters. With the focus of the different guidelines, this article tries to give an appropriate overview and aid decision making in CRT patients, including a short view of possible new indications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Klinikum Coburg, Germany, Medizinische Klinik II, Klinikum Coburg, Ketschendorfer Str. 33, 96450 Coburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Turschner
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ritscher
authors.forename: Helge
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rittger
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brachmann
authors.forename: Anil-Martin
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sinha
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000379:methods*; D018450:Disease Progression; D006304:Health Status; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008133:Long QT Syndrome; D018579:Patient Selection; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014481:United States