Thursday 4 September 2008

EchoCRT Study Will Investigate Benefits Of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy In Patients With Heart Failure

�BIOTRONIK announced the enrolment of the first patient into the EchoCRT (Echocardiography guided Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) study. Drs William T. Abraham and Ralph Augostini at The Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, USA, enrolled and implanted the Lumax HF-T CRT-D device in the first patients in EchoCRT. This technologically in advance cardiac device has many industry-leading features to write and raise patients' lives and equipped with BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring� enables wireless, automatic everyday data transmission of patients' cardiovascular and device condition.


"The objective of EchoCRT is to demonstrate that optimal medical therapy asset CRT reduces all-cause mortality or first-class honours degree hospitalization for worsening center failure in the study population compared to optimum medical therapy alone" aforesaid Dr Johannes Holzmeister, University of Z�rich, Executive Committee Co-Chairman and International Co-Principal Investigator of EchoCRT. He added, "EchoCRT will provide valuable scientific evidence for this with child group of heart failure patients wHO currently want treatment options beyond pharmacologic therapy."


"Cardiac resynchronization is a proven life-saving device-based treatment for certain heart failure patients with ventricular dyssynchrony, that is, discoordinated pumping natural action of the heart," Dr Abraham, Director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Ohio State University Medical Center and US Principal Investigator of the study, explained. "Previous randomized controlled trials with CRT own been modified to patients with a so-called 'wide QRS,' an electrocardiogram (ECG) anomaly that shows longer-than-normal ventricular action (QRS width ? 120 - 130 ms), who present only 30% of all subjects with chronic ticker failure. EchoCRT is designed to certify whether patients with ventricular dyssynchrony just 'narrow QRS' or normal ventricular electrical activity on the ECG, may derive the like life-saving benefits from CRT device therapy as former heart failure patients."


As the largest, prospective, randomized, double-blind, international, multicenter clinical trial of its kind, the landmark EchoCRT study will randomise more than 1,250 patients with heart failure, already receiving current touchstone pharmacological therapy, with a 'narrow QRS' width (

In recognition of its material clinical benefits, CRT has been recommended in both the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines and in the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic heart failure. However, these guidelines have limited the application of CRT to patients with a QRS width of ? 120 ms.1, 2 EchoCRT will assess whether some of the left 70% of heart failure patients with 'narrow QRS' could benefit from CRT therapy.


"The clinical community of interests has long been intrigued as to whether 'narrow-QRS' heart failure patients with ventricular dyssynchrony would benefit from CRT," stated Kevin Mitchell, BIOTRONIK Vice President Clinical Studies. "The EchoCRT study has been designed under steering from an executive steering committee of 11 internationally-renowned academic specialists in electrophysiology, heart failure and echocardiography who carefully considered before studies in developing the EchoCRT innovation. BIOTRONIK is proud to support this trial, which is part of our enduring committedness to landmark clinical enquiry, to cater physicians with scientifically-sound evidence on which to base their clinical decisions. BIOTRONIK is as well committed to improving affected role outcomes and to achieve this, the company has significantly expanded its clinical trial syllabus and has embarked on four orotund, international, landmark trials, including EchoCRT."


"Chronic heart failure is associated with a poor forecast with substantially shortened endurance and repeated hospitalizations. The vast legal age of patients with heart failure pose with a narrow QRS and do not presently receive CRT. The EchoCRT trial