Mixed-methods evaluation of a multifaceted heart failure intervention in general practice: the OSCAR-HF pilot study.

AIMS: Heart failure (HF) is an important health problem for which multidisciplinary care is recommended, yet few studies involve primary care practitioners in the multidisciplinary management of HF. We set up a multifaceted prospective observational trial, OSCAR-HF, piloting audit and feedback, natriuretic peptide testing at the point of care, and the assistance of a specialist HF nurse in primary care. The aim was to optimize HF care in general practice. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is an analysis at 6 month follow-up of the study interventions of the OSCAR-HF pilot study, a nonrandomized, noncontrolled prospective observational trial conducted in eight Belgian general practices [51 general practitioners (GPs)]. Patients who were assessed by their GP to have HF constituted the OSCAR-HF study population. We used descriptive statistics and mixed-effects modelling for the quantitative analysis and thematic analysis of the focus group interviews. There was a 10.2% increase in the registered HF population after 6 months of follow-up (n = 593) compared with baseline (n = 538) and a 27% increase in objectified HF diagnoses (baseline n = 359 to 456 at T6 M). Natriuretic peptide testing (with or without referral) accounted for 54% (n = 60/111) of the newly registered HF diagnoses. There was no difference in the proportion of patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction who received their target dosage of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors or beta-blockers at 6 months compared with baseline (P = 0.9). Patients who received an HF nurse intervention (n = 53) had significantly worse quality of life at baseline [difference in Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) score 9.2 points; 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.0, 14] and had a significantly greater improvement in quality-of-life scores at the 6 month follow-up [change in MLHFQ score -9.8 points; 95% CI -15, -4.5] than patients without an HF nurse intervention. GPs found audit and feedback valuable but time intensive. Natriuretic peptides were useful, but the point-of-care test was impractical, and the assistance of an HF nurse was a useful addition to routine HF care. CONCLUSIONS: The use of audit and feedback combined with natriuretic peptide testing was a successful strategy to increase the number of registered and objectified HF diagnoses at 6 months. GPs and HF nurses selected patients with worse quality-of-life scores at baseline for the HF nurse intervention, which led to a significantly greater improvement in quality-of-life scores at the 6 month follow-up compared with patients without an HF nurse intervention. The interventions were deemed feasible and useful by the participating GPs with some specific remarks that can be used for optimization. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02905786), registered on 14 September 2016 at https://clinicaltrials.gov/.

Impact of an extended audit on identifying heart failure patients in general practice: baseline results of the OSCAR-HF pilot study.

AIMS: Identifying heart failure (HF) patients in general practice is challenging, and little is known about the current quality of care. We implemented an extended audit from the electronic health records (EHRs) of general practitioners (GPs) to identify HF patients and investigate patient characteristics and quality of care. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study describes the baseline results of the OSCAR-HF pilot study in eight general practices (51 GPs) in Flanders, Belgium. This prospective trial ran for 6 months. Interventions included an extended audit, an N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide point-of-care test, and assistance of a specialist HF nurse. The extended audit searched on risk factors for HF, HF symptoms, signs, and medication in the GPs' EHR to generate a list of possible HF patients. GPs determined which patients had HF. Those HF patients constituted the OSCAR-HF study population. Each patient file was manually revised to extract biomarker measurements, echocardiography data, and quality indicators. An independent panel of experts assessed the validity of GPs' HF diagnoses. Feedback about the validity of the HF diagnosis was given to the GP. Out of 18 011 patients ≥ 40 years, we identified 310 patients with a registered HF diagnosis before the study start (HF prevalence: 1.7%). The extended audit led to a 74% increase in identified HF patients (n = 538, HF prevalence: 3.0%) with a mean age of 79 ± 11 years. The prevalence of HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) was 20% (n = 110). A high proportion of patients underwent echocardiography in the past 5 years (86%, n = 462). Natriuretic peptides were rarely available in patients' files (19%, n = 100). Medical specialists should improve communication about the HF diagnosis because a specialist diagnosis was present in only 225 patients (42%) while 67% (n = 359) of the HF diagnoses were judged objectified by a panel of experts. Assigning a diagnosis of HF was particularly difficult in HF patients with preserved EF (HFpEF). HFrEF treatment rates with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockers (84%, n = 92) and beta-blockers (86%, n = 94) were very good; however, target doses were hardly reached (34% and 14%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted the need to improve case finding for HF in general practice and showed that an extended audit in the GPs' EHR was a successful strategy to do so. To improve the quality of HF care in general practice, specific strategies are needed to diagnose HFpEF and to reach target doses of disease-modifying drugs in HFrEF patients.

Effects of dapagliflozin on congestion assessed by remote pulmonary artery pressure monitoring.

AIMS: To explore the effects of dapagliflozin on congestion through CardioMEMS (Abbott Inc., Atlanta, USA) and Cordella™ pulmonary artery Sensor (Endotronix Inc., Lisle, Il, USA) devices, which are implantable systems that provide real-time remote monitoring of pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). METHODS AND RESULTS: Single-centre open label observational pilot trial, to investigate the short-term effects of dapagliflozin in consecutive heart failure and reduced ejection fraction patients with elevated PAP between October and December 2019, previously implanted with CardioMEMS or Cordella™ Sensor. Changes in PAP were evaluated with an area under the curve methodology to estimate the total sum increase or decrease in pressures (mmHg/day) for 7 days before and after starting dapagliflozin relative to the first day of each period. Nine patients (72 ± 10 years, N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide 1027 ± 510 pg/mL, estimated glomerular filtration rate 45 ± 15 mL/kg/m2, left ventricular ejection fraction 35 ± 10%), all on optimal guideline-directed therapy was included. The mean PAP was reduced from 42 ± 9.16 to 38 ± 9.95 mmHg with dapagliflozin therapy (P < 0.05). The average area under the curve for the week leading to dapagliflozin therapy remained unchanged compared to the drop observed for the week after therapy (P < 0.05). Interestingly, the drop in PAP occurred within the first 2 days of dapagliflozin and remained stable for the week following the start of the therapy. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate a direct effect of dapagliflozin on achieving effective hemodynamic decongestion, providing further mechanistic data regarding the potential mechanisms of sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor benefits on heart failure.

Sacubitril/valsartan reduces ventricular arrhythmias in parallel with left ventricular reverse remodeling in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

BACKGROUND: Sacubitril/valsartan reduced the occurrence of sudden cardiac death in the PARADIGM-HF trial. However, limited information is available about the mechanism. METHODS: Heart failure (HF)-patients receiving sacubitril/valsartan for a class-I indication equipped with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) or cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) with remote tele-monitoring were retrospectively analyzed. Device-registered arrhythmic-events were determined [ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation (VT/VF), appropriate therapy, non-sustained VT (NsVT; > 4beats and < 30 s), hourly premature ventricular contraction (PVC)-burden], following sacubitril/valsartan initiation (incident-analysis) and over an equal time period before initiation (antecedent-analysis). Reverse remodeling to sacubitril/valsartan was defined as an improvement of left ventricular ejection fraction of ≥ 5% between baseline and follow-up. RESULTS: A-total of 151 HF-patients with reduced LVEF (29 ± 9%) were included. Patients were switched from ACE-I or ARB to equal doses of sacubitril/valsartan (expressed as %-target-dose; before = 58 ± 30% vs. after = 56 ± 27%). The mean follow-up of both the incident and antecedent analysis was 364 days. Following the initiation, VT/VF-burden dropped (individual patients with VT/VF pre_n = 19 vs. post_n = 10, total-episodes of VT/VF pre_n = 51 vs. post_n = 14, both p < 0.001), resulting in reduced occurrence of appropriate therapy (pre_n = 16 vs. post_n = 6; p < 0.001). NsVT-burden per patient also dropped (mean episodes pre_n = 7.7 ± 11.8 vs. post_n = 3.7 ± 5.4; p < 0.001). There was no impact on atrial-fibrillation burden. PVC-burden dropped significantly which was associated with an improvement in BiV-pacing in patients with < 90% BiV-pacing at baseline. A higher degree of reverse remodeling was associated with a lower burden of NsVT and PVCs (both p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Initiation of sacubitril/valsartan is associated with a lower degree of VT/VF, resulting in less ICD-interventions. This beneficial effect on ventricular arrhythmias might be related to cardiac reverse remodeling.

Treatment patterns in anticoagulant therapy in patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in Belgium: results from the GARFIELD-AF registry.

Background: AF, anticoagulation, NOACs, changing patterns of prescription. Methods: We describe baseline data and treatment patterns of patients recruited in Belgium in the Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF). Recruitment began when novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) were introduced and provides a unique picture of changing treatment patterns over time. 1713 patients with a new (≤6 weeks duration) diagnosis of non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and at least one investigator-defined stroke risk factor were recruited between May 2012 and August 2016, and will be prospectively followed for at least 2 years. Results: Overall, anticoagulant use in Belgium was higher than in the rest of Europe: 80.1% of patients received an anticoagulant ± antiplatelet (AP) therapy (14.5% on vitamin K antagonists; 65.6% on NOAC), 10.7% AP therapy and 9.3% no antithrombotic therapy. Over time, we observed an increase in anticoagulant use and a decrease in AP use for stroke prevention. NOAC use in Belgium was the highest of Europe at the study start, with many countries catching up later. In high stroke risk patients (CHA2DS2-VASc ≥2), anticoagulants were used in 84.3%, leaving 15.7% unprotected. In low risk patients (CHA2DS2-VASc 0-1) anticoagulants were overused (58.7%). Factor Xa inhibitors were used more frequently than direct thrombin inhibitors. Conclusion: Guideline adherence on stroke prevention was higher in Belgium than in the rest of Europe, and increased over time. NOAC use in Belgium was the highest of Europe at the study start, with many countries catching up later. Possible reasons are discussed. Clinical Trial Registration: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT01090362.

Optimising standards of care of heart failure in general practice the OSCAR-HF pilot study protocol.

Background: Heart failure (HF) imposes a burden for patients and health economics. General practitioners (GPs) are confronted with the broadest range of HF management. Although guidelines exist, they are not fully implemented in the Belgian health care system. Methods: We will conduct a non-randomised, non-controlled prospective observational trial (six months follow-up) to implement a multifaceted intervention in Belgian general practice to support GPs in the implementation of evidence-based HF guidelines. The multifaceted intervention consists of an audit and feedback method to detect previously unrecognised patients with HF and to increase awareness for proactive HF management, an NT-proBNP point-of-care test to improve detection and adequate diagnosis of patients with HF and a specialist HF nurse to assist GPs in the education of patients, optimisation of treatment and follow-up after hospitalisation. All patients aged 40 years and older with a confirmed diagnosis of HF by their GP based on the clinical audit are eligible for participation. The main objective of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of this multifaceted intervention and the evolution of predefined quality indicators. We will measure the impact on HF diagnosis, medication optimisation, multidisciplinary follow-up and patients' quality of life after six months. Additionally, the experiences of GPs and investigators will be studied. Conclusions: Heart failure is an important health problem in which GPs play a key role. Therefore, we will evaluate the feasibility of a multifaceted intervention to optimise diagnosis as well as implement the guideline recommended therapies in patients with HF in general practice.

Effects of intravenous home dobutamine in palliative end-stage heart failure on quality of life, heart failure hospitalization, and cost expenditure.

AIMS: In patients with palliative end-stage heart failure, interventions that could provide symptomatic relief and prevent hospital admissions are important. Ambulatory continuous intravenous inotropes have been advocated by guidelines for such a purpose. We sought to determine the effect of intravenous dobutamine on symptomatic status, hospital stay, mortality, and cost expenditure. METHODS AND RESULTS: All consecutive end-stage heart failure patients not amenable for advanced therapies and discharged with continuous intravenous home dobutamine from a single tertiary centre between April 2011 and January 2017 were retrospectively analysed. Dobutamine (fixed dose) was infused through a single-lumen central venous catheter with a small pump that was refilled by a nurse on a daily basis. Symptomatic status was longitudinally assessed as the change in New York Heart Association class and patient global assessment scale. Antecedent and incident heart failure hospitalizations were determined in a paired fashion, and cost impact was assessed. A total of 21 patients (age 77 ± 9 years) were followed up for 869 ± 647 days. At first follow-up (6 ± 1 weeks) after the initiation of dobutamine, patients had a significant improvement in New York Heart Association class (-1.29 ± 0.64; P < 0.001), global assessment scale (<0.001), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (6247 vs. 2543 pg/mL; P = 0.033). Incident heart failure hospitalizations assessed at 3, 6, and 12 months were significantly reduced (P < 0.001 for all) in comparison with antecedent heart failure hospitalizations over the same time period. Cost expenditure was significantly lower at 3 (P < 0.001), 6 (P = 0.005), and 12 months (P = 0.001) after initiation of dobutamine. Mortality rate at 1 year was 48% with 9/12 (75%) patients dying at home, most often from progressive pump failure. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous intravenous home dobutamine in patients with palliative end-stage heart failure is feasible and associated with improved symptomatic status, heart failure hospitalizations, and health-care-related costs. Nevertheless, results should be interpreted in the context of the small and retrospective design. Larger studies are necessary to evaluate the effect of dobutamine in palliative end-stage heart failure.

Aggressive extensive cardiac mass in an HIV-1-infected patient: should we go for comfort therapy?

Cardiac masses are rare, the differential diagnosis includes infections with vegetations or abscesses, neoplasms, thrombi, and structural abnormalities. A pathology specimen is essential in therapeutic strategy planning for a cardiac mass, also if the primary imaging findings look dramatic at the start. Even in an inoperable setting, a life-saving therapy might be available. We report a case of a 49-year-old man, known with HIV-1, who was several times admitted with pericarditis. Now he was hospitalized with progressive lower limb edema, atrial fibrillation and detection of a giant cardiac mass in left and right atrium with infiltration of surrounding tissues. Given the extent and invasiveness of the mass, he was inoperable. Biopsy specimen was obtained and staging was performed by PET-CT scan. The diagnosis of stage IV Burkitt lymphoma with predominant extranodal cardiac involvement was withheld wherefore promptly aggressive therapy was started according to the GMALL B-NHL86 protocol. The therapy was downgraded to R-CHOP due to tolerance problems. He achieved a complete remission and during follow-up no relapse was detected.

Heart rate reduction and exercise performance in recent onset heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: arguments for beta-blocker hypo-response.

OBJECTIVE: Beta blockers reduce all-cause mortality and readmissions in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), which may be explained by their effect on heart rate (HR). This study assessed the impact of HR reduction with beta blockers on exercise capacity in recent onset HFrEF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty consecutive patients with recent onset HFrEF (<30 days) performed a standardized exercise protocol with respiratory gas analysis at baseline as well as after 6 and 12 months. Patients participated in a quality of care programme aiming to achieve guideline-recommended target doses for beta-blocker therapy. At baseline, 6 and 12 months, 36%, 70% and 62% of patients, respectively, had a resting HR<70 bpm. Beta-blocker dose after 12 months was comparable in patients with resting HR<70 versus ≥70 bpm (P value=0.631). However, with similar dose uptitration, the former versus the latter had a significantly larger HR reduction (17±22 versus 4±15 bpm; P value=0.027). Peak oxygen consumption (VO2max) was significantly higher when resting HR was <70 versus ≥70 bpm (17.5±5.5 versus 14.4±3.3 mL/min/kg, respectively; P value=0.038). Similar results were observed after 6 months. Patients in whom resting HR decreased at follow-up compared to baseline had a 2.0±3.2 mL/min/kg increase in VO2max compared to a 1.2±7.7 mL/min/kg increase in patients who did not demonstrate a lower resting HR (P value=0.033). CONCLUSIONS: In recent onset HFrEF, exercise performance was better when resting HR was controlled <70 bpm with beta-blocker therapy. However, despite aggressive dose uptitration, many patients did not achieve this target as they had little HR reduction with beta-blocker therapy.

Implementation of transmural disease management in patients admitted with advanced heart failure.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and impact on readmissions of transmural disease management across the borders of the cardiology department in patients with advanced heart failure (HF). METHODS AND RESULTS: Consecutive patients, readmitted within one year for advanced HF by a dedicated specialist (n = 55), were followed for 22 +/- 10 months after implementation of a hospitalwide transmural disease management strategy. Participants received a tag in their electronic medical record, triggering a HF caregiver contact, with subsequent guideline-recommended, protocol-driven care on each cardiac or non-cardiac hospitalization as well as outpatient evaluation. Upon transition to outpatient follow-up, patients were instructed to call the HF caregiver with any question at low threshold. Readmission rates were prospectively collected. Despite receiving adequate treatment with neurohumoral blockers, patients (71 +/- 11 years; ejection fraction 35 +/- 13%) had spent 4% (27%) of the year preceding study inclusion in hospital, with 73% admitted once, 20% twice, and 7% more than twice for acute decompensated HF (ADHF). During the study, patients were exposed to 6 +/- 4 dedicated HF caregiver contacts. Participation in remote device monitoring increased from 31% to 92%, with 1 (0-3) additional phone contacts per patient-year of follow-up in this subgroup (n = 24). All-cause mortality and readmission rates for ADHF were 10% and 25% after one year, and 19% and 39% after 2 years, respectively. Follow-up time spent in hospital decreased significantly to 2% (16%) (P value = 0.047). CONCLUSIONS: Follow-up of advanced HF patients through transmural disease management is feasible and associated with favourable clinical outcome.

Asymptomatic episodes of device-registered atrial tachyarrhythmia are not associated with worse cardiac resynchronization therapy response.

AIMS: To assess the influence of device-registered episodes of atrial tachyarrhythmia (AT) on the response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). METHODS AND RESULTS: Consecutive CRT patients without history of atrial fibrillation (AF; n = 118) were followed prospectively. AT was defined as a device-registered episode of atrial rate >190 b.p.m. for ≥30 s. Episodes of electrocardiographically documented AF, accompanied by symptoms, or need for cardioversion, were classified as clinical AF. During mean follow-up of 26 ± 9 months, 39 patients (33%) had ≥1 episode of asymptomatic device-registered AT. Twenty-one patients (18%) developed clinical AF of whom seven had previously experienced episodes of asymptomatic device-registered AT. Patients with asymptomatic AT or AF had a higher body mass index, but otherwise similar baseline characteristics, compared with the subjects without AT. Reverse remodelling after CRT was similar among the groups. While clinical AF was significantly associated with the composite endpoint of all-cause mortality or unplanned hospital admission (hazard ratio = 2.43, 95% confidence interval: 1.40-4.24), this correlation was not observed in patients with asymptomatic device-registered AT (P value = 0.540). CONCLUSION: Episodes of asymptomatic device-registered AT are frequent in CRT patients, but are not associated with impaired reverse remodelling. In contrast to clinical AF, such episodes are not associated with worse clinical outcome.

Response to cardiac resynchronization therapy in elderly patients (≥70 years) and octogenarians.

AIMS: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) leads to reverse ventricular remodelling, improved functional capacity, and better clinical outcome in patients with advanced chronic heart failure, reduced ejection fraction, and evidence of ventricular conduction delay, who are under optimal medical therapy. This study investigated whether these benefits can be extrapolated to older patients, typically not included in randomized clinical trials. METHODS AND RESULTS: Consecutive patients who received a CRT device between October 2008 and June 2011, including optimization afterwards in a dedicated clinic, were stratified into 3 pre-specified groups, according to age: <70 years (n = 76); 70-79 years (n = 95); and ≥80 years (n = 49). Left ventricular remodelling, functional capacity, heart failure hospitalization, and mortality data were assessed during follow-up. Reverse left ventricular remodelling and improvement in New York Heart Association functional class were similar in all groups at 6 months after implantation. During mean follow-up of 20 months, 32 patients died and 66 were admitted for heart failure. Annualized mortality rates were significantly higher in elderly patients (6% vs. 8% vs. 15% in all groups, respectively; P < 0.001), but time to death or first heart failure admission was similar among age groups (P = 0.531). Progressive pump failure was the major cause of death (50%), with co-morbidity-related deaths also being frequent (41%). CONCLUSION: Reverse left ventricular remodelling and functional capacity improvement after CRT are sustained at advanced age. Moreover, time to all-cause mortality or heart failure admission was similar, irrespective of age, in a context of maximized optimization including optimal medical therapy.

Time from emerging heart failure symptoms to cardiac resynchronisation therapy: impact on clinical response.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether time from onset of heart failure signs and/or symptoms (ie, progression to stage C/D heart failure) until implantation affects reverse remodelling and clinical outcome after cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT). DESIGN: Cohort study of consecutive CRT patients, implanted between 1 October 2008 and 30 April 2011. SETTING: Single tertiary care centre (Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Genk, Belgium). PATIENTS: Consecutive CRT patients (n=172; 71±9 years), stratified into tertiles according to the time since first heart failure signs and/or symptoms at implantation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in left ventricular dimensions, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class and freedom from all-cause mortality or heart failure admission. RESULTS: Baseline renal function was better in patients implanted earlier after emerging heart failure symptoms (estimated glomerular filtration rate=73±20 vs 63±23 vs 58±26 ml/min/1.73 m(2) for tertiles, respectively). After 6 months, decreases in left ventricular end-diastolic/systolic diameter and improvement in NYHA functional class were similar among tertiles. Freedom from all-cause mortality or heart failure admission was better in patients with early implantation (p value=0.042). However, this was not the case in patients with preserved renal function (p value=0.794). Death from progressive heart failure was significantly more frequent in patients implanted later in their disease course. CONCLUSIONS: Reverse left ventricular remodelling after CRT is not affected by the duration of heart failure. However, clinical outcome is better in patients implanted earlier in their disease course, which probably relates to better renal preservation.

Comorbidity significantly affects clinical outcome after cardiac resynchronization therapy regardless of ventricular remodeling.

BACKGROUND: The influence of comorbid conditions on ventricular remodeling, functional status, and clinical outcome after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is insufficiently elucidated. METHODS AND RESULTS: The influence of different comorbid conditions on left ventricular remodeling, improvement in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, hospitalizations for heart failure, and all-cause mortality after CRT implantation was analyzed in 172 consecutive patients (mean age 71 ± 9 y), implanted from October 2008 to April 2011 in a single tertiary care hospital. During mean follow-up of 18 ± 9 months, 21 patients died and 57 were admitted for heart failure. Left ventricular remodeling and improvement in NYHA functional class were independent from comorbidity burden. However, diabetes mellitus (hazard ratio [HR] 3.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24-9.65) and chronic kidney disease (HR 3.11, 95% CI 1.10-8.81) were predictors of all-cause mortality, and the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.02-3.53) was independently associated with heart failure admissions. Importantly, those 3 comorbid conditions had an additive negative impact on survival and heart failure admissions, even in patients with reverse left ventricular remodeling. CONCLUSIONS: Reverse ventricular remodeling and improvement in functional status after CRT implantation are independent from comorbidity burden. However, comorbid conditions remain important predictors of all-cause mortality and heart failure admissions.

Importance of adjunctive heart failure optimization immediately after implantation to improve long-term outcomes with cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Despite improvement in morbidity and mortality with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), disease progression continues to affect a subset of patients and there is limited effort to identify contributing factors. Our objective was to investigate if a protocol-driven approach incorporated in a management strategy of heart failure immediately after implantation would provide incremental benefits beyond usual care after implantation. We reviewed 114 consecutive patients with CRT implanted from 2005 through 2009 who received usual care after implantation or underwent protocol-driven CRT care after implantation. Preimplantation characteristics in patients receiving usual versus protocol-driven care were similar in left ventricular (LV) dimension (LV internal diastolic diameter 6.2 ± 0.8 vs 6.4 ± 1.0 cm), LV ejection fraction (26 ± 8% vs 25% ± 8%), QRS width, and medication usage. Major adjustments during the protocol-driven approach were uptitration of neurohormonal blockers (64%), echocardiographically guided atrioventricular optimization (50%), heart failure education (42%), arrhythmia management (19%), and LV lead repositioning (7%). Although positive LV remodeling was noted in the 2 groups at 6 months, extent was significantly greater in the protocol-driven approach compared to usual care (change in LV internal diastolic diameter 0.7 ± 0.6 cm vs 0.2 ± 1.2 cm, p = 0.01; change in LV ejection fraction 11 ± 7% vs 7 ± 9%, p = 0.01), which was associated with fewer major adverse events (14% vs 53%, p <0.001). In conclusion, a protocol-driven approach for patients with CRT started immediately after implantation is associated with incremental favorable effects on reverse remodeling and fewer adverse events compared to usual care after implantation. These effects appeared to be driven not only by changes in device settings and arrhythmia management but also by concomitant medication optimization and heart failure education.