PLoS ONE (Jan 2012)

Improvement of left ventricular function under cardiac resynchronization therapy goes along with a reduced incidence of ventricular arrhythmia.

  • Christian Eickholt,
  • Marcus Siekiera,
  • Kiriakos Kirmanoglou,
  • Astrid Rodenbeck,
  • Nicole Heussen,
  • Patrick Schauerte,
  • Artur Lichtenberg,
  • Jan Balzer,
  • Tienush Rassaf,
  • Stefan Perings,
  • Malte Kelm,
  • Dong-In Shin,
  • Christian Meyer

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048926
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 11
p. e48926

Abstract

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ObjectivesThe beneficial effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) are thought to result from favorable left ventricular (LV) reverse remodeling, however CRT is only successful in about 70% of patients. Whether response to CRT is associated with a decrease in ventricular arrhythmias (VA) is still discussed controversially. Therefore, we investigated the incidence of VA in CRT responders in comparison with non-responders.MethodsIn this nonrandomized, two-center, observational study patients with moderate-to-severe heart failure, LV ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤35%, and QRS duration >120 ms undergoing CRT were included. After 6 months patients were classified as CRT responders or non-responders. Incidence of VA was compared between both groups by Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis. ROC analysis was performed to determine the aptitude of LVEF cut-off values to predict VA.ResultsIn total 126 consecutive patients (64±11 years; 67%male) were included, 74 were classified as responders and 52 as non-responders. While the mean LVEF at baseline was comparable in both groups (25±7% vs. 24±8%; P = 0.4583) only the responder group showed an improvement of LVEF (36±6% vs. 24±7; p7% was found to be a predictor of a significantly lower incidence of VA (AUC = 0.606).ConclusionsImprovement of left ventricular function under cardiac resynchronization therapy goes along with a reduced incidence of ventricular arrhythmia.