Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an established treatment for patients with heart failure (HF), myocardial dysfunction and prolonged ventricular depolarization on surface electrocardiogram. CRT can be delivered by a pacemaker (CRT-P) or a combined pacemaker-defibrillator (CRT-D). Although these two types of devices are very different in size, function, and cost, current published guidelines do not distinguish between them, leaving the choice of which device to implant to the treating physician and the informed patient. In this paper, we review the published CRT clinical trial literature with focus on the outcomes of HF patients treated with CRT-P versus CRT-D. We also attempt to provide guidance as to the appropriate choice of CRT device type, in the absence of randomized prospective trials geared to answer this specific question.

心脏再同步治疗 (CRT) 是一种既定的治疗方法，用于治疗心力衰竭 (HF)、心肌功能障碍和体表心电图上心室去极化时间延长的患者。CRT 可以由起搏器 (CRT-P) 或起搏器-除颤器组合 (CRT-D) 提供。尽管这两种类型的设备在尺寸、功能和成本上有很大差异，但当前发布的指南并未对它们进行区分，将植入哪种设备的选择权留给了治疗医生和知情患者。在本文中，我们回顾了已发表的 CRT 临床试验文献，重点是 CRT-P 与 CRT-D 治疗的 HF 患者的结果。We also attempt to provide guidance as to the appropriate choice of CRT device type, in the absence of randomized prospective trials geared to answer this specific question.