title: Cardiac resynchronization therapy: past, present, and future.
abstract: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), or biventricular pacing, has become a standard therapeutic modality for patients with symptomatic heart failure (HF), depressed left ventricular (LV) function, and electrical dyssynchrony. Despite the overall success of CRT in improving morbidity and mortality in selected patients with HF, a significant minority demonstrates nonresponse. This review describes the electrical and physiologic rationale for biventricular pacing therapy, summarizes landmark clinical trials assessing CRT efficacy, highlights strategies to optimize the response to CRT, and frames future challenges in the use, delivery, and care of patients undergoing CRT.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Neal A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Cardiology Division, Electrophysiology Laboratory, Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Electronic address: JSINGH@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Jagmeet P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D058406:Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods; D005544:Forecasting; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D018579:Patient Selection; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014672:Vectorcardiography / Q000379:methods; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy
keywords: Biventricular pacing; Cardiac resynchronization therapy; Electrical dyssynchrony; Heart failure