In heart failure (HF) patients diagnosed according to the New York Heart Association (NYHA) rating scale as either Class III or Class IV, with QRS duration = 120 ms, left ventricular (LV) EF = 35% (when in sinus rhythm), cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) can predict sustained improvement in at least LV structure and function. The knowledge of aetiology of a subject's HF status and of a few simple echocardiographic characteristics provides useful information as to whether such patients and undergo significant and beneficial reverse remodelling of the LV in particular and, in the long term can be expected to experience an improvement in all-cause mortality, for example such patients can be reasonably expected to survive and enjoy a relatively enhanced quality of life (QOL). A patient who qualifies according to the invention can be termed a reverse remodelling responder (RRR) or the like.
INTERVENTRICULAR DELAY AS A PROGNOSTIC MARKER FOR REVERSE REMODELING OUTCOME FROM CARDIAC RESYNCHRONIZATION THERAPY