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.