Publication details
Cardiac strains as a tool for optimization of cardiac resynchronization therapy in non-responders: a pilot study
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Open Medicine |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/med-2019-0111 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/med-2019-0111 |
| Keywords | Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy; Heart Failure; Optimization; Speckle Tracking; Cardiac Strains |
| Description | Background. Approximately 30% of patients do not respond to implantation of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy - Defibrillators (CRT-D). The aim of this study was to investigate the potential for cardiac strain speckle tracking to optimize the performance of CRT-D in non-responding patients. Methods. 30 patients not responding to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy-Defibrillators after 3 months were randomly divided into control and intervention groups. Atrioventricular interval was adjusted so that E and A waves did not overlap, the interventricular interval was subsequently optimized to yield maximum improvement of the sum of longitudinal+radial+circumferential strains. The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and NYHA improvement 3 months after optimization were evaluated and use of other strain combinations assessed. Results. A significant correlation between the (combined) strain change and LVEF improvement was detected (p<0.01). 75% of patients with non-ischemic etiology of heart failure who did not respond to the original CRT-D reacted favorably with significant LVEF and NYHA improvement. The area strain was the best predictor of LVEF/NYHA improvement in those patients. No significant improvement was recorded in patients with ischemic etiology. Conclusions. AV and VV optimization based on speckle tracking is a very promising method potentially leading to a significant improvement of the outcome of CRT-D, especially in patients with non-ischemic etiology of heart failure. |