Recently published research in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals the power of cardiac-resynchronization pacing in addition to an implantable defibrillator to save lives in patients with mild to moderate heart failure due to arrhythmia.
Cardiac-resynchronization defibrillators (CRT), also known as "biventricular pacemakers," were first found to be effective at preventing death in a landmark Canadian study reported in 2010. The results were so resounding that all patients who were in the control arm of the study were later offered cardiac-resynchronization therapy. The pager-sized device is surgically implanted just below the collarbone, with three tiny leads that monitor the patient's heart rhythm and emit pulses of electricity to coordinate each heartbeat.
