An individual patient meta-analysis of five randomized trials assessing the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy on morbidity and mortality in patients with symptomatic heart failure

Cleland, J. G. , Abraham, W. T., Linde, C., Gold, M. R., Young, J. B., Daubert, J. C., Sherfesee, L., Wells, G. A. and Tang, A. S.L. (2013) An individual patient meta-analysis of five randomized trials assessing the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy on morbidity and mortality in patients with symptomatic heart failure. European Heart Journal, 34(46), pp. 3547-3556. (doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/eht290) (PMID:23900696) (PMCID:PMC3855551)

Abstract

Aims: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) with or without a defibrillator reduces morbidity and mortality in selected patients with heart failure (HF) but response can be variable. We sought to identify pre-implantation variables that predict the response to CRT in a meta-analysis using individual patient-data. Methods and results: An individual patient meta-analysis of five randomized trials, funded by Medtronic, comparing CRT either with no active device or with a defibrillator was conducted, including the following baseline variables: age, sex, New York Heart Association class, aetiology, QRS morphology, QRS duration, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and systolic blood pressure. Outcomes were all-cause mortality and first hospitalization for HF or death. Of 3782 patients in sinus rhythm, median (inter-quartile range) age was 66 (58–73) years, QRS duration was 160 (146–176) ms, LVEF was 24 (20–28)%, and 78% had left bundle branch block. A multivariable model suggested that only QRS duration predicted the magnitude of the effect of CRT on outcomes. Further analysis produced estimated hazard ratios for the effect of CRT on all-cause mortality and on the composite of first hospitalization for HF or death that suggested increasing benefit with increasing QRS duration, the 95% confidence bounds excluding 1.0 at ∼140 ms for each endpoint, suggesting a high probability of substantial benefit from CRT when QRS duration exceeds this value. Conclusion QRS duration is a powerful predictor of the effects of CRT on morbidity and mortality in patients with symptomatic HF and left ventricular systolic dysfunction who are in sinus rhythm. QRS morphology did not provide additional information about clinical response.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Editor's choice.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cleland, Professor John
• Authors: Cleland, J. G., Abraham, W. T., Linde, C., Gold, M. R., Young, J. B., Daubert, J. C., Sherfesee, L., Wells, G. A., and Tang, A. S.L.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Robertson Centre
• Journal Name: European Heart Journal
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 0195-668X
• ISSN (Online): 1522-9645
• Published Online: 29 July 2013
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 The Authors
• First Published: First published in European Heart Journal 34(46):3547-3556
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License