Abstract

The objective of this paper tries to answer the questions posed in the title, that is, why Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) is usually prescribed along with Automatic Implantable Defibrillation (AID)? Is it a sensible decision? For that matter, first the origins of the rather old synchronization concept in cardiac electrophysiology are established by selectively reviewing the literature and thereafter, pinpointing when the current CRT idea came about to bring back into synchronism both ventricles of the human heart. First, it was an experimental concept discovered in lower animals that shows some resemblance with a similar phenomenon applied within the same cardiac muscle. Besides, the latter was developed slowly during the last decade of the last century shaping up in the last recent decade. The literature, however, indicates discrepancies in criteria and no clear clinical evidence to suggest a mandatory prescription of both devices. Sometimes, as other examples demonstrate, tendencies in medical practice may have dramatic and even opposite changes. Health and cardiac risk assessment and predictions have entered into a quantitative stage, but the error bands are still wide and the road ahead is quite hard. Hence, when considering the CRT-AID subject, serious reconsideration is needed.

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