BOCA RATON, FLA. — Heart failure patients with atrial fibrillation who receive cardiac resynchronization devices experience benefits similar to those in patients without the condition, according to data presented at the annual meeting of the Heart Failure Society of America.
Major cardiac resynchronization therapy trials typically exclude patients with atrial fibrillation. However, the diagnosis is common in patients with heart failure.
“It's an important question to ask—a lot of our patients have atrial fibrillation. We don't know if they benefit from resynchronization,” Dr. Jooyoung Julia Shin, said in an interview during a poster session.
Dr. Shin and her associates compared New York Heart Association (NYHA) classifications before and 6 months after device placement for patients with and without atrial fibrillation. They assessed data for 1,017 people with heart failure who were enrolled in the InSync Registry and InSync ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) Registry (Medtronic Inc.). Of these registrants, 389 (38%) with an NYHA classification at 6 months had a history of atrial fibrillation before implantation.
Such patients were not included in the clinical trials, said Dr. Shin, a researcher in the division of cardiology at Emory University, Atlanta. The study's principal investigator was Dr. Andrew L. Smith.
The overall mean NYHA classification was 3.0 before device implantation and 2.3 at 6 months. At 6 months, the mean improvement in NYHA classification was the same in both groups: 59%. This indicates that patients with a history of atrial fibrillation can benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy, Dr. Shin said.
The researchers plan to continue following participants up to 3 years.