Katarína Hatalová
Heart failure continues to be a major public health problem and gains epidemic extent despite advances in medical therapy. Patients with advanced heart failure live significantly shorter with poor quality of life. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an invasive therapeutic approach based on synchronized stimulation of right atrium and both ventricles by the means of a special three-chamber generator. CRT optimizes cardiac performance with positive impact on both morbidity and mortality. It is the task of cardiologists in outpatient settings to identify early patients who are candidates for CRT. The potential candidate for CRT has systolic heart failure with LVEF ≤ 35%, ECG pattern of LBBB with QRS duration ≥ 120 ms and is in functional NYHA class III-IV refractory to optimized pharmacotherapy.