Looks promising
- Rebecca E Lane, research fellow,
- Jamil Mayet, consultant cardiologist,
- Nicholas S Peters, professor of cardiology (n.peters@ic.ac.uk)
- Department of Cardiology, St Mary's Hospital, London W2 1NY
Left bundle branch block in structurally normal hearts results in loss of synchrony of ventricular contraction and impairs both regional and global left ventricular systolic function.1 In hearts with good overall left ventricular systolic function this has very little clinical effect. But in patients with ischaemic or idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy it further impairs already poor systolic function and may have a major clinical impact. The prevalence of conduction delay in patients with heart failure is as high as 30%,2 and this has led to the development of biventricular pacing in an attempt to restore synchronous ventricular contraction and so improve left ventricular function. Biventricular pacing involves the transvenous placement of a third pacing lead via the right atrium and coronary sinus into a left ventricular cardiac vein; this is in addition to the standard pacing leads in the right atrium and right ventricle3 and permits simultaneous stimulation of the right and left ventricles.
What is the evidence that this works? Several studies have indicated that biventricular …
Sign in
Article access
Article access for 1 day
Purchase this article for £20 $30 €32*
The PDF version can be downloaded as your personal record







CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Mendeley
Reddit
Technorati
Twitter
Stumbleupon
Rapid responses
Latest Responses
Re: Transforming translation
Published 30 May 2012
Re: Bringing Nightingale down to size
Published 29 May 2012
Re: Avoid antimuscarinic drugs in people with dementia
Published 29 May 2012
Re: Strengthening primary health care: Related to the integration of medical training, community service need and health administration
Published 29 May 2012
Re: Strengthening primary health care: Related to the integration of medical training, community service need and health administration
Published 29 May 2012
Most responses
Venous thrombosis in users of non-oral hormonal contraception: follow-up study, Denmark 2001-10 (12 responses)
Published 10 May 2012 - 23:32
The psychiatric oligarchs who medicalise normality (9 responses)
Published 2 May 2012 - 15:42
Are doctors justified in taking industrial action in defence of their pensions? No (8 responses)
Published 8 May 2012 - 12:21
Are doctors justified in taking industrial action in defence of their pensions? Yes (8 responses)
Published 8 May 2012 - 12:21
The hardest thing: admitting error (7 responses)
Published 2 May 2012 - 12:27