Although chronic heart failure (CHF) remains an incurable syndrome of exercise intolerance, cardiac dysfunction and reduced longevity, the last two decades have seen an unprecedented improvement in the quality and quantity of life for patients diagnosed with CHF caused by left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD). One of the major advances has been cardiac resynchro-nization therapy (CRT), which can improve symptoms and prognosis in CHF patients with LVSD and conduction delay. Guidelines describing the criteria for selection of CHF patients for CRT are based upon large randomized, placebo-controlled studies demonstrating reduced hospitalization and mortality (over a finite time).
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