Medtronic finds biventricular pacing may offer significant clinical advantage

Medtronic announced interim findings from the BLOCK HF trial, which show that biventricular pacing may offer a significant clinical advantage and improved patient outcomes over conventional right ventricular pacing among patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and atrioventricular block who are indicated for a pacemaker. Presented as a late-breaking clinical trial at the American Heart Association's 2012 Scientific Sessions, BLOCK HF shows a 27% relative risk reduction in the composite of death and healthcare utilization visits requiring intravenous heart failure therapy among this patient population. The CRT devices used in the BLOCK HF trial are not approved by the FDA for the patient population studied at this time.