Your Messages Inbox
Most Viewed Abstracts
1. Report Shows Shift in Starting Salaries for Physicians 2. Pre-participation screening of young competitive athletes for prevention of sudden cardiac death 3. The Job Market for 2008-2009: Compensation 4. Renal Artery Stenosis 5. AHA Guidelines on Cardiac CT for Assessing Coronary Artery Disease
Your Article Summary
See Latest Articles(Click the title below to leave the MDLinx Network and go to the Journal's Website)
Development and validation of a clinical index to predict survival after cardiac resynchronisation therapy
Heart, 07/23/09
Leyva F et al. – The DSC index, derived from a standard CMR scan and plasma creatinine prior to implantation, is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular mortality after CRT.
Exclusive Author Commentary
Francisco Leyva, 07/23/09
Francisco Leyva, 07/23/09
| The Holy Grail for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is to be able to predict its outcome before a device is implanted. So far, echocardiography has proven to be of limited value in predicting clinical outcome. In this study, we have considered a panoply of factors which have previously been shown to predict mortality in patients with heart failure. In addition, we have also considered factors which are pathophysiologically relevant to CRT: dyssynchrony and viability of the left ventricular free wall - an important mechanical substrate of CRT. In this study, we have found that a combined index incorporating Dyssynchrony, Scar location and Creatinine (the DSC index), assessed before device implantation, is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular mortality after CRT. Importantly, patients in the worst risk category faired worse than the 'average' patient treated with medical treatment in the CARE-HF study. On the other hand, patients in the best risk category faired better than those in the CRT arm of the CARE-HF study. These findings require external validation. On the basis of our internal validation, however, the DSC index appears to be a powerful predictor of outcome after CRT. |
Today in Prevention...keeping you current
Receive free subspecialty "5-minute updates" via email
Homocysteine lowering interventions for preventing cardiovascular events
Cochrane Reviews, 10/19/09
Antithrombotic medication for stroke prevention
Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy , 10/20/09
Omega-3 fatty acids and heart failure
Current Atherosclerosis Reports, 11/12/09
Sponsor
Article Search
Sponsor
Sponsor