The preliminary result, say researchers, is stronger pumping by the heart. Only half of patients with mild to moderate heart failure survive for five years and only half of patients with severe failure survive for one year, researchers have reported. Experts estimate that by 2005, heart failure will be the No. 1 cause of death. Although there is no cure, there is medication. Studies have shown that doctors have reduced dosages and, in some cases, weaned patients off medication using cardiac resynchronization therapy, says Muttonen, and that is what we hope will be shown with the Contack CD device as well.
Many medications are expensive and have adverse side effects.
In the study, InSync was implanted in 266 patients, but only about half had the device turned on. In the New England Journal of Medicine study, an international group of researchers reported on a study of nearly 50 patients who received a cardiac resynchronization therapy implant. For each patient, the device was left off for the first half of the study, then turned on for the second half. The researchers found that artificial ventricular pacing significantly improved the patient s ability to exercise, as measured in walking tests, as well as their quality of life, as determined by a questionnaire. On average, oxygen uptake increased, and significantly fewer patients were hospitalized for heart failure.