BACKGROUND

Retrospective single-center studies have shown that measures of mechanical dyssynchrony before cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), or acute changes after CRT, predict response better than QRS duration. The Prospective Minnesota Study of Echocardiographic/TDI in Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (PROMISE-CRT) study was a prospective multicenter study designed to determine whether acute (1 week) changes in mechanical dyssynchrony were associated with response to CRT.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Nine Minnesota Heart Failure Consortium centers enrolled 71 patients with standard indications for CRT. Left ventricular (LV) size, function, and mechanical dyssynchrony (echocardiography [ECHO], tissue Doppler imaging [TDI], speckle-tracking echocardiography [STE]) as well as 6-minute walk distance and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire scores were measured at baseline and 3 and 6 months after CRT. Acute change in mechanical dyssynchrony was not associated with clinical response to CRT. Acute change in STE radial dyssynchrony explained 73% of the individual variation in reverse remodeling. Baseline measures of mechanical dyssynchrony were associated with reverse remodeling (but not clinical) response, with 4 measures each explaining 12% to 30% of individual variation.

CONCLUSIONS

Acute changes in radial mechanical dyssynchrony, as measured by STE, and other baseline mechanical dyssynchrony measures were associated with CRT reverse remodeling. These data support the hypothesis that acute improvement in LV mechanical dyssynchrony is an important mechanism contributing to LV reverse remodeling with CRT.