Pacemaker-Like Device Restores Heart Function in Cancer Survivors
An implanted cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) device successfully restored heart function in a group of cancer survivors who had suffered from heart failure as a result of chemotherapy. The device was evaluated in a small clinical trial led by the University of Rochester Medical Center . The trial was reported in a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association . Called the MADIT-CHIC study, it was the first of its kind to evaluate if cardiac resynchronization therapy could improve heart function in patients with congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy, which is an enlargement of the heart due to chemotherapy side effects. After six months with the implanted CRT devices, the 30 patients who received the therapy experienced significant improvement.