[Device therapy of chronic heart failure: Update 2015]

Cardiac pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) and systems for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) represent an important component of heart failure therapy. Pacemakers only play a role in bradycardia-associated heart failure and require optimal programming to prevent ventricular desynchronization. Primary prophylactic ICD implantation is indicated in patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction of ≤ 35 %, clinical stages NYHA II-III and a life expectancy > 1 year. The CRT is indicated in patients with a left bundle branch block but only in individual cases for other QRS morphologies of < 150 ms duration. The combination of CRT with a pacemaker or defibrillator must be decided on an individual basis. Device therapy in heart failure should always include remote monitoring to detect events early and to implement treatment accordingly. New developments include quadripolar left ventricular leads and pacing from multiple sites simultaneously thus enabling better resynchronization. Stimulation for modulation of cardiac contractility and the autonomous nervous system are currently being clinically tested. The optimal utilization of device therapy improves the course of heart failure and prevents cardiac decompensation and fatalities.