An early proof-of-concept of cardiac resynchronization therapy.
Almost 50 years ago, we published detailed hemodynamic findings in a patient with heart failure and intermittent left bundle branch block. Delayed intraventricular conduction was consistently accompanied by an increased duration of left ventricular (LV) isometric contraction, a drop in systolic blood pressure, a rise in heart rate, and a drop in cardiac output. To our knowledge, this observation provided the first ever evidence that delayed mechanical LV contraction was associated with deterioration, and return to a normal pre-ejection phase with improvement in LV function.
Martial G Bourassa, Paul Khairy, Denis Roy, Department of Medicine, Montreal Heart Institute/Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec H1T 1C8, Canada. martial.bourassa@icm-mhi.org
Martial G
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