All studies point to a global reduction, in latest years, of the incidence of sudden death among patients with cardiac insufficiency , but it remained to evaluate specifically what happened in the cases submitted to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). That is exactly what did Sérgio Barra and other 11 specialists from different European countries, who analysed all studies conducted on these patients in the last 20 years , and they have just published their respective conclusions in the European Heart Journal (the official publication of the European Society of Cardiology and, presently, the one of higher impact in the area). CRT consists in the implantation of a device in the thorax, under the skin, to resynchronize the left ventricle and, thus, improve the functioning of the heart. The device can be implanted individually or associated to a defibrillator. This treatment is applied to patients with cardiac insufficiency , left ventricular dysfunction and electrical dyssynchrony (with subsequent mechanic dyssynchrony). In this scientific revision article, were included all studies conducted since the beginning of the 21 st century, involving patients with cardiac resynchronization devices , with or without associated defibrillator, and with information on the cause of death. Globally, Sérgio Barra and the co-authors of the article (exercising in hospital institutions in France, United Kingdom and the United States) analysed 53 studies , encompassing 60.879 patients (585 of which registering cardiac sudden death). Conclusions: The rates of cardiac sudden death have been diminishing in this group of patients, along the last two decades, independently of the presence or absence of defibrillator. The reduction in the rate of cardiac sudden death was most pronounced in patients with CRT and no defibrillator, although also registered in those with defibrillator. The results observed are encouraging and justified, among other reasons, by the gradual improvement in the medical treatments available for these patients, and by the progress in the technologies associated to such intracardiac devices. Resume of the article published on November 21, 2019, under the title “Time trends in sudden cardiac death risk in heart failure patients with cardiac resynchronization therapy: a systematic review”.
