New therapy prevents heart failure

Washington, June 24 (ANI): Scientists have suggested a new therapy that will help in preventing heart failure or deaths in patients with heart disease.

The study showed a 29pct reduction in heart failure and mortality risk in patients who received an implanted cardiac resynchronization therapy device with defibrillator (CRT-D) compared to patients who received only an implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD-only).

The new generation of cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) was designed to stop dangerous, life-threatening heart rhythms and improve the heart's contraction, thereby enabling the device to improve survival and prevent heart failure.

The MADIT-CRT (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial with Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) involving more than 1,800 patients showed that defibrillator along with cardiac resynchronization device reduced deaths by nearly one-third in patients with mild heart failure.

"Now we can prevent sudden cardiac death and inhibit the development of heart failure, thus improving survival and outcome in patients with heart disease," Dr Arthur Moss, professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, who led the MADIT-CRT trial.

"There is a very large population of patients with heart disease who will benefit from this combined therapy," he added.

The results of the trial were released by the University of Rochester Medical Center and Boston Scientific, the study's sponsor. (ANI)