Resynchronization/Defibrillation for Ambulatory Heart Failure Trial

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a common health problem that leads to frequent hospitalizations and an increased death rate. In spite of advances in drug therapy, it remains a significant public health problem. Recently, a new therapy has been developed for advanced heart failure patients with a ventricular conduction abnormality. This new therapy, called cardiac resynchronization (CRT), is a device which stimulates the atrium, the right ventricle, and the left ventricle providing synchronization of the contraction of the heart chambers. It is the addition of this therapy to an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) that will be evaluated in this study. This study will compare whether the implantation of this new therapy device, in combination with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, will reduce total mortality and hospitalizations for CHF.