Heart rhythm : the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effect of rate and rhythm control on left ventricular function and cardiac dimensions in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation: results from the RAte Control versus Electrical Cardioversion for Persistent Atrial Fibrillation (RACE) study.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate left ventricular function and atrial and ventricular diameters in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with rate or rhythm control. ⋯ Routine rate control prevents deterioration of left ventricular function. Maintenance of sinus rhythm is associated with improvement of left ventricular function and reduction of atrial sizes.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Randomized prospective trial of atrioventricular delay programming for cardiac resynchronization therapy.
The purpose of this study was to determine if AV delay optimization with continuous-wave Doppler aortic velocity-time integral (VTI) is clinically superior to an empiric program in patients treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) for severe heart failure. ⋯ Echocardiography-guided AV delay optimization using the aortic Doppler VTI improves clinical outcomes at 3 months compared to an empiric AV delay program of 120 ms.