Abstract
Currently, cardiac resynchronization therapy holds an irreplaceable position in the treatment of some patients with symptomatic heart failure. Its positive impact on heart failure symptoms, hemodynamics or quality of life has been proved in many randomized clinical trials which have also demonstrated that this therapy is able to induce reverse remodeling of the heart leading to improved systolic ventricular function and regression of cardiac dilatation.
Such changes result in a reduced rate of hospitalization for heart failure decompensation and improved total and cardiac mortality. However, the efficacy of cardiac resynchronization therapy is inter-individually variable.
Therefore it is necessary to identify appropriate candidates for cardiac resynchronization therapy. This topic has become the subject of the following article that is founded on the recent recommendations of the European Society of Cardiology.