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Benefits of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in an Asynchronous Heart Failure Model Induced by Left Bundle Branch Ablation and Rapid Pacing
Published on: December 11, 2017
Benefits of cardiac resynchronization therapy in "very dilated cardiomyopathy"
Ana Lousinha1, Mário M Oliveira, Joana Feliciano
1Serviço de Cardiologia, Hospital de Santa Marta, Lisboa, Portugal. lousinha@hotmail.com
Insights
Patients with very dilated cardiomyopathy showed a higher clinical response rate to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). However, reverse remodeling was similar across groups, indicating LVEDD may not solely predict CRT success.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Devices
- Heart Failure Management
Background:
- Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is used for advanced heart failure.
- Left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD) is a potential predictor of CRT response.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate CRT response in patients with very dilated cardiomyopathy (LVEDD ≥ 45 mm/m²).
- To compare responder rates and reverse remodeling between patients with very dilated cardiomyopathy and those with less dilated ventricles (37 mm/m² < LVEDD < 45 mm/m²).
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 71 heart failure patients undergoing CRT.
- Patients were divided into two groups based on LVEDD: Group A (very dilated) and Group B.
- Echocardiography assessed NYHA class, LVEF, and LVEDD at baseline and 6 months post-CRT.
Main Results:
- Overall, 79% of patients were clinical responders with improved LVEF and reduced LVEDD.
- Very dilated cardiomyopathy patients (Group A) showed a significantly higher clinical responder rate (96% vs. 72%).
- Reverse remodeling, LVEF improvement, and LVEDD reduction were similar between groups.
Conclusions:
- A significant number of patients achieve reverse remodeling after CRT.
- While very dilated cardiomyopathy patients exhibit better functional class improvement, the degree of reverse remodeling is comparable across LVEDD groups.
Introduction:
Recent clinical trials have studied parameters that could predict response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with advanced heart failure. Left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD) is regarded as a possible predictor of response to CRT.
Objective:
To study the response to CRT in patients with very dilated cardiomyopathy, i.e. those at a more advanced stage of the pathology, analyzing both the responder rate and reverse remodeling in two groups of patients classified according to LVEDD.
Methods:
We performed a retrospective analysis of 71 patients who underwent CRT (aged 62 +/- 11 years; 65% male; 93% in NYHA functional class > or = III; 31% with ischemic cardiomyopathy; left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] 25.6 +/- 6.8%; 32% in atrial fibrillation; QRS 176 +/- 31 ms). Twenty-two (31%) patients with LVEDD > or = 45 mm/m2 (49.2 +/- 3.5 mm/m2) were considered to have very dilated cardiomyopathy (Group A) and 49 patients had LVEDD > 37 mm/m2 and < 45 mm/m2 (39.4 +/- 3.8 mm/m2) (Group B). All patients were assessed by two-dimensional echocardiography at baseline and six months after CRT. The following parameters were analyzed: NYHA functional class, LVEF and LVEDD. Responders were defined clinically (improvement of > or = 1 NYHA class) and by echocardiography, with a minimum 15% increase over baseline LVEF combined with a reduction in LVEDD (reverse remodeling).
Results:
There were no significant differences in baseline demographic characteristics between the two groups. At six-month followup, we observed an improvement in LVEF (delta 8.5 +/- 11.8%) and a reduction in LVEDD (delta 3.7 +/- 6.8 mm/m2), with fifty-seven (79%) patients being classified as clinical responders. The percentage of patients with reverse remodeling was similar in both groups (64% vs. 73%, p = NS), as were percentages of improved LVEF (delta 6.3 +/- 11% vs. delta 9.6 +/- 12%; p = NS) and decreased LVEDD (delta 3.7 +/- 5.5 mm/m2 vs. delta 3.7 +/- 7.4 mm/m2; p = NS). We found a higher percentage of clinical responders in patients with very dilated cardiomyopathy (96% vs. 72%, p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
In this study, a significant number of responders showed reverse remodeling after CRT. Although a higher percentage of patients with very dilated cardiomyopathy showed improvement in functional class, the extent of reverse remodeling was similar in both groups.
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