Echocardiography to Identify Responders to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), effected via biventricular pacing, is now considered an established therapy for patients with severe heart failure, with good clinical results. However, 20-30% of patients do not respond to CRT. At present, patient selection is mainly based on QRS duration. Evidence is accumulating that echocardiography may be an ideal technique to identify responders to CRT. Based on assessment of intra-ventricular dyssynchrony, accurate prediction of response to CRT will be feasible. In particular, tissue Doppler imaging, assessing septal-to-lateral wall delay (>60 ms), may allow precise assessment of intraventricular dyssynchrony