An iconic figure from CARE-HF: The Cardiac Resynchronization - Heart Failure trial

Working at the Hammersmith Hospital in London in the late 1980s, I recognized that patients with heart failure (HF) often deteriorated after pacemaker implantation. I even resorted to β1 partial agonists to manage bradycardia.1 Meanwhile, Derek Gibson had shown that shortening atrioventricular delay could reduce mitral regurgitation and improve ventricular filling in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. As far back as 1971, he also described the benefits of biventricular pacing on ventricular synchrony.