(RTTNews) - Sunday, medical device maker Medtronic, Inc. (MDT: News ), reported results from a study revealing that Cardiac resynchronization therapy or Bi-ventricular pacing was better at preventing cardiac enlargement compared with pacing only the right ventricle.

Minneapolis, Minnesota- based Medtronic conducted Pacing to Avoid Cardiac Enlargement or PACE study to evaluate the extent of enlargement of left ventricles in 177 pacemaker patients with normal pumping hearts using the Cardiac resynchronization therapy or CRT, against those using pacing of right ventricle alone.

CRT uses a small device implanted in the upper chest to resynchronize the contractions of the ventricles by sending tiny electrical pacing impulses to the heart muscle, to improve the pumping efficiency of the heart.

According to the results, after one year of pacing, patients with bi-ventricular pacing had no significant changes in left ventricle size. However, patients paced only in the right ventricle developed enlarged left ventricles, including a significant increase of 6.3 milliliter in the size of the left ventricle at the end contraction, along with a 6.8% decrease in the ejection fraction, or the amount of available blood pumped from the left ventricle.
"Bi-ventricular pacing is proven to reduce symptoms, extend survival and reduce heart size in symptomatic heart failure patients; however, it is not currently approved for use with pacemaker patients with normal pumping hearts," added the company.

MDT closed Friday's regular trading sessions at $39.46, down 37 cents or 0.93% on a volume of 4.73 million shares on the NYSE

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by RTT Staff Writer

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