Cardiac resynchronisation therapy with or without a defibrillator: individualising device prescription

Abstract

Cardiac resynchronisation therapydefibrillators (CRTD) would seem the obvious choice for patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, given implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death in this population. However, despite decades of discussion, COMPANION (Comparison of Medical Therapy, Pacing, and Defibrillation in Heart Failure) remains the only trial to include both CRTD and CRTpacemakers (CRTP) in which outcomes between the two approaches were similar.