Risks up for patients with cardiac resynchronization therapy with cardioverter defibrillator
THURSDAY, March 7 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with mild symptoms of heart failure implanted with cardiac resynchronization therapy with cardioverter defibrillator (CRT-D), weight loss is associated with increased risk of heart failure or death, according to a study to be presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held from March 9 to 11 in San Francisco.
Valentina Kutyifa, M.D., from the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, and colleagues compared the risk of heart failure or death among 994 patients implanted with CRT-D, with and without weight loss.
The researchers found that weight loss was observed at 12 months for 48 percent of patients implanted with CRT-D. Patients with weight loss had a significantly increased cumulative probability of heart failure or death compared to those without weight loss. In multivariate analysis, the risk of heart failure or death was significantly increased for patients with, versus those without, weight loss (hazard ratio, 1.49). Each kilogram of weight loss correlated with a significant 4 percent increase in the risk of heart failure or death. The risk of heart failure or death was doubled in left bundle branch block patients with CRT-D (hazard ratio, 2.03).
"In patients with heart failure who receive a cardiac resynchronization device with defibrillator, unintended weight loss of just five pounds increases the risk of serious cardiac event," Katyifa said in a statement. "These findings suggest clinicians should be monitoring patients with unplanned weight loss more closely."
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