ESC Roundup: Questions Raised About Remote Monitoring Benefits And Preventative ICDs; Medtronic Upgrades CRT Algorithms

07 Sep 2016

This year's European Society of Cardiology Congress in Rome featured presentations of data from several major clinical trials that may cause cardiologists to rethink some of their established device therapies, including ICDs for the primary prevention of sudden cardiac death and remote monitoring of implantable devices in heart-failure patients.

Remote monitoring of cardiac resynchronization defibrillators (CRT-D) did not reduce mortality of heart failure patients beyond the benefits of regular office-based care in the MORE CARE study. However, the trial results also indicate that remote monitoring can reduce the overall costs of treating these patients without compromising patient safety by reducing the number of in-office visits.

Giuseppe Boriani of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy presented data from 865 patients in MORE CARE...