Monitoring of Fluid Status in Heart Failure Patients by Intrathoracic Impedance Measurement (HomeCARE II)

The new BIOTRONIK implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) family Lumax 540 is capable of measuring the intrathoracic impedance on a daily basis and transmission of impedance trend data via the Home Monitoring technology. In future, this will allow for automatic early detection of imminent decompensation at a presymptomatic stage and immediate initialization of clinical meaningful therapeutic interventions preventing heart failure related hospitalizations. The aim of this investigation is to record long-term impedance trends in heart failure patients with and without heart failure related events (hospitalizations due to acute decompensation) in order to develop algorithms for device-based early detection and warning of HF deterioration accompanied by pulmonary congestion.