Improving ventricular pacing in adults and children : to treat or to avoid dyssynchrony-induced cardiac failure

This research shows that even patients with mild cardiac failure induced by dyssynchrony (a badly coordinated contraction of the heart) can benefit from ‘resynchronizing’ both heart chambers by artificial stimulation of both heart chambers. In children and young adults for whom artificial stimulation of the heart chamber is necessary it is important to make sure that this artificial stimulation does not cause a deterioration of the heart function. The described studies show that the place where the heart is stimulated has an important influence on the heart function.
The best heart function was witnessed in stimulation of the chamber that pumps the blood into the body. This research contributes to the improvement of pacemaker therapy in adults and children for the treatment or prevention of heart failure induced by dyssynchrony.

This research was partly subsidized by the Nederlandse Hartstichting
(Dr. E. Dekker grant for children’s cardiology research)