Is surgery required to implant a cardiac resynchronization therapy system?
A specially trained cardiologist or cardiovascular surgeon implants the CRT system. The devices are implanted under the skin in the chest area. Three very thin insulated wires (leads), with tiny electrodes on their distal ends, are maneuvered through veins from the device to the heart: One lead is placed to touch the inner wall of the right atrium, another to touch the inner wall of the right ventricle and the third lead is threaded through the coronary sinus and placed to touch the outer wall of the left ventricle. The implantation procedure is typically done with local anesthesia, so the patient remains conscious. However, the procedure takes longer than a regular pacemaker implant because of the need to implant the third lead to pace the left ventricle. A typical time, depending on physician experience and patient anatomy, is between 2-3 hours. Patients usually stay in the hospital overnight. What are the potential benefits of this new therapy? For those patients with heart failure
