AHA Video: Kenneth A. Ellenbogen, MD

CHICAGO--Kenneth A. Ellenbogen, MD, director of clinical cardiac electrophysiology and pacing at Virginia Commonwealth University Pauley Heart Center in Richmond, shares the “disappointing” results from the three-arm randomized, controlled SMART AV trial, which sought to assess whether patients with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) would better respond to fixed empiric atrioventricular (AV) delay, echocardiographic optimization of AV delay or AV delay optimization based on the SmartDelay algorithm (Boston Scientific).

Approximately 30 percent of patients who receive a CRT device experience a limited benefit to the therapy. Ellenbogen reviews the goals and objectives of seeking an improved outcome in these patients, along with different outcomes in different patient subgroups and the economic considerations for clinical practice based on these findings.

CORRECTION: In the video interview, the interviewer refers to the trial as the SMART AF trial, when in fact, the trial is titled SMART AV. Our apologies for the error.