[Efficacy of cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator for treating patients with chronic heart disease].

OBJECTIVE: To observed the clinical efficacy of cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator (CRT-D) in selected patients with chronic heart failure one year after implantation. METHODS: Seventeen patients with drug-refractory heart failure received CRT-D implantation (6 patients were implanted with InSync Sentry). The underlying heart diseases were dilated cardiomyopathy in 12 patients and ischemic heart disease in 5 patients. There were 13 patients with a history of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation. RESULTS: CRT-D were successfully implanted in all patients without complication. The mean left ventricular pacing threshold was 1.6 V. The defibrillation threshold was no more than 20 J. During a mean follow-up of 13 months, no death occurred and LV function was improved. The shock induced by ventricular tachycardia was delivered in 5 patients and alarming due to heart failure occurred twice in 1 patient. CONCLUSIONS: The implantation of CRT-D for treating refractory heart failure patients is feasible and safe. The application of CRT-D was associated with an improved cardiac function and a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death.