Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy - CRT This new heart failure treatment also reduces mortality. CRT, which is sometimes referred to as biventricular pacing, is a form of therapy for congestive heart failure caused by dilated cardiomyopathy. Several studies now document the remarkable benefits conferred by CRT on appropriately selected patients with heart failure. CRT uses uses a specialized pacemaker to re-coordinate the action of the right and left ventricles in patients with heart failure. CRT re-coordinates the beating of the two ventricles by pacing both ventricles simultaneously. This differs from typical pacemakers, which pace only the right ventricle. When the work of the two ventricles is coordinated, the hearts efficiency increases, and the amount of work it takes for the heart to pump blood is reduced. Studies have also shown that CRT can improve both the anatomy and function of the heart - tending to reduce the size of the dilated left ventricle, and therefore improving the left ventricular ejection fraction. Perhaps most importantly, CRT can improve the survival of patients with heart failure
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 06:16:02 +0000