Medtronic commences landmark cardiac resynchronisation therapy trial

Medtronic has announced the commencement of a new study of its AdaptivCRT technology that will be conducted on a larger scale than ever before.

The first patients have been implanted in the AdaptResponse study, which will compare patient and healthcare system outcomes in heart failure patients who have cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) devices with the AdaptivCRT® feature enabled, versus patients receiving standard CRT options.

With approximately 3,000 patients worldwide to be enrolled, it is expected to be the largest trial of CRT to date, and subjects at 200 centres across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia, North America and Asia will be involved.

The aim of the study will be to assess the superiority of the AdaptivCRT algorithm, which preserves normal heart rhythms and automatically adjusts to patients' needs to customise therapy.

Dr David Steinhaus, Medtronic's vice-president, general manager for heart failure and medical director of the cardiac rhythm disease management business, said: "Medtronic is committed to improving the lives of people with heart failure at every stage of their care, including those who can benefit from cardiac resynchronisation therapy."

This comes after the firm announced the acquisition of NGC Medical and Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation last week, part of a wider expansion strategy that will also include the takeover of Covidien.