Submit request or call to make an appointment.
Cardiac resynchronization therapy uses a pacemaker to get the left and right ventricles working together. The pacemaker stimulates the left and right ventricles to contract at nearly the same time. Some children with heart failure may be candidates for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), a procedure widely used in adults.
Children with cardiomyopathy — a heart that is weakened and unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs — may be candidates for CRT if their ventricles are not “synchronized.” With cardiomyopathy, the heart’s main pumping chamber — the left ventricle — is enlarged. It may take longer for electrical signals from the atria to spread throughout the ventricles. The right and left ventricles then lose their ability to beat at the same time, and heart function further decreases. The left ventricle, struggling to pump enough blood, can enlarge even more. The condition used to be known as cardiomyopathy associated with dyssynchronous contraction.
To address the condition, our specialists with Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated of the UofL School of Medicine, can implant a dual pacemaker with or without an internal cardiac defibrillator. By pacing each ventricle, the heart becomes more coordinated and improves its ability to pump.
The board-certified and fellowship-trained pediatric electrophysiologists and pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons at Norton Children’s Heart Institute are experienced with treating this severe heart failure with cardiac resynchronization therapy.
Norton Children’s Heart Institute is the leading provider of pediatric heart care in Louisville and Southern Indiana. Let our specialists determine if cardiac resynchronization therapy is an option to improve your child’s heart failure.
Norton Children’s has a network of outreach diagnostic and treatment services conveniently located throughout Kentucky and Southern Indiana.