Intra thoracic impedance monitoring with audible alert in heart failure management

Intra thoracic impedance monitoring with audible alert has been tried in heart failure management. This technology incorporated in heart failure devices [(cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)] and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is used to assess the volume status and advice early hospitalization if needed. van Veldhuisen DJ and associates from the Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands studied 335 patients with chronic heart failure who had undergone implantation of CRT or ICD [Intrathoracic Impedance Monitoring, Audible Patient Alerts, and Outcome in Patients With Heart Failure. Circulation. 2011; 124: 1719-1726]. According to the authors, though the device increased heart failure hospitalizations and out patient visits in heart failure patients, it did not improve the final outcome in terms of mortality or heart failure hospitalizations.