Cardiology News In Brief

Heart CARE for diabetics: Updated results from Medtronic's 813-patient CARE-HF study finds Medtronic's cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is equally effective for diabetic and nondiabetic heart failure patients. CRT reduced the all-cause mortality rate in diabetic patients by 39%, compared with a 40% reduction in nondiabetics, the firm reported Sept. 3 at the European Society of Cardiology/World Congress of Cardiology 2006 meeting in Barcelona. Overall, Medtronic's InSync CRT products reduced the risk of heart failure death by 45% and sudden cardiac death by 53% in the study, which randomized patients to medical management with and without CRT, with an average follow-up period of about 36 months (1"The Gray Sheet" March 14, 2005, p. 7)...