December 29, 2011 – Heart failure remains by far the single biggest reason for acute hospital admission but is stubbornly resistant to treatment. The prognosis for heart failure has been only marginally improved by the introduction of new medical treatments in recent years, with continuing high rates of mortality and morbidity. However, large-scale clinical trials have highlighted the beneficial effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in the improvement of symptoms and reduction of mortality. CRT is now recommended in the major European and American guidelines for the treatment and prevention of heart failure.
