起搏器对某些心脏病患者并无益处

一项最新研究显示：在使用专门心脏起搏器治疗使得心脏电复律的充血性心脏功能衰竭患者之中，大约三分之一患者治疗无效。

当前植入起搏器的标准没有精确鉴别出那些患者会从植入心脏起搏器中获益，那些不会获益。这些研究针对从标准心电图收集的信息来检查治疗有反应或者无反应相关的因素。先前有过心脏病发作患者，与先前没有心脏病发作的患者，对心脏起搏器治疗无效的病例数基本相同。

使用专门起搏器使得心脏电复律是一种价格昂贵而且有创伤性的治疗方法。根据研究结果，至少33％的充血性心衰患者使用这种方法治疗无效。新的研究结果显示为了更好的选择心脏电复律治疗的患者，需要更多的研究工作。

这项研究结果报道在2005年1月18日的《心脏起搏和临床电生理 》期刊上，作者是美国波士顿Beth Israel Deaconess医学中心心脏科的科学硕士Matthew R.Reynolds医生。
 
Pacemakers Don’t Help Some Heart Patients
 
A new study shows that about one-third of patients with congestive heart failure who are treated with specialized pacemakers to electrically resynchronize their hearts fail to respond.

The current criteria for the implantation of a pacemaker do not accurately identify those patients who will or will not benefit from the implantation. The study looked at information derived from a standard electrocardiogram (EKG) to examine those factors associated with response or nonresponse. On average, those patients who had experienced a previous heart attack did not respond as well to pacemaker therapy as patients who had not had a previous heart attack.

Electrically resynchronizing the heart with a specialized pacemaker is a costly and invasive treatment. According to the study results, at least 33% of patients with congestive heart failure who were treated with this therapy failed to respond. The new findings suggest that more research is needed in order to find out how best to select patients for cardiac resynchronization therapy.

The study, reported in the January 18, 2005, issue of Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology (PACE), was authored by Matthew R. Reynolds, M.D., M.Sc., of the division of cardiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston (USA).