Atrial and brain natriuretic peptides as markers of response to resynchronisation therapy.

C ardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) has recently been introduced to treat patients with drug refractory heart failure. 2 Studies have demonstrated immediate haemodynamic improvement after CRT, followed by improvement in symptoms, quality of life, and exercise capacity. 2 Although the majority of patients respond well to CRT, in 20% of patients symptoms do not improve. The main problem is the lack of objective parameters to measure the effect of CRT. Natriuretic peptides are now used in studies involving patients with heart failure. The value of these markers to objectively assess response to CRT was evaluated in this study.