Benefits observed in patients with reduced ejection fraction, widened QRS complex, NYHA class II or III heart failure<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
THURSDAY, Jan. 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Receipt of a cardiac-resynchronization therapy-defibrillator (CRT-D) offers long term benefit for patients with heart failure, reduced ejection fraction, and a widened QRS complex, according to a study published in the Jan. 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n John L. Sapp, M.D., from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and colleagues randomly assigned patients with New York Heart Association class II or III heart failure, a left ventricular ejection fraction of 30 percent or less, and an intrinsic QRS duration of 120 msec or more to receive an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) alone or a CRT-D. A total of 1,798 patients were enrolled, of whom 1,050 were included in the long-term survival trial (median duration of follow-up, 7.7 years; median duration of follow-up for those who survived, 13.9 years).<\/p>\n The researchers found that death occurred in 76.4 percent of 530 patients assigned to the ICD group and 71.2 percent of the 520 patients assigned to the CRT-D group. Compared with those assigned to receive an ICD, those assigned to receive a CRT-D had longer time to death (acceleration factor, 0.80). A secondary outcome event occurred in 77.7 and 75.4 percent of patients in the ICD and CRT-D groups, respectively.<\/p>\n “This long-term follow-up trial showed a benefit with respect to mortality among patients who received a CRT-D as compared with those who received a standard ICD, and this benefit appears to have been sustained over time,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n