Effectiveness of VF induction with DC fibber versus conventional induction methods in patients on chronic amiodarone therapy.

Background: Amiodarone therapy, especially chronic, can result in difficult ventricular fibrillation (VF) inductions during implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) testing. The efficacy of various VF induction methods on patients treated with amiodarone has not been well described. This prospective analysis evaluated the impact of direct current (DC) fibber, burst fibber, and synchronized T-wave shock VF induction methods.

Rationale and design of a randomized clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of frequent optimization of cardiac resynchronization therapy: the Frequent Optimization Study Using the QuickOpt Method (FREEDOM) trial.

Objective: The aim of the study was to describe the rationale, design, and end points of a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial evaluating frequent systematic optimization of atrioventricular (AV) and interventricular (VV) delays in patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

Methods: One thousand five hundred eighty heart failure patients, with standard clinical indications for CRT, were enrolled at 178 sites in 16 countries. Within 2 weeks after implantation of a CRT system capable of using a new device-based algorithm for AV and VV optimization, patients were randomly assigned to frequent optimization arm versus empiric device programming or any other non-device-based method of CRT optimization (standard of care arm).

Optimization of AV and VV delays in the real-world CRT patient population: an international survey on current clinical practice.

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an effective treatment for patients suffering from advanced heart failure and electrical dyssynchrony. Limited data suggest that patients may benefit from routine optimization of the atrioventricular (AV) and interventricular (VV) delays; however, there is scarce information available on how and when optimization should be performed.

Objective: The objective of this survey was to characterize the current international standard of care for optimization of the AV and VV delays in CRT devices recipients.