Predicting Response to CRT

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT; or biventricular pacing) improves quality of life, functional status, exercise capacity, and left-ventricular structure and function in patients with chronic systolic class III–IV heart failure and intraventricular conduction delay. Still, a substantial subset of treated patients are nonresponders. To identify clinical and electrocardiographic predictors of response to CRT, researchers retrospectively studied 139 patients (mean age, 68; 81% men) who had had CRT-capable devices successfully implanted at a French institution, where achieving the shortest possible QRS duration during biventricular stimulation was emphasized.

At 6-month follow-up, 72% of patients were classified as responders to CRT (i.e.,…