Selection and optimisation of biventricular pacing: the role of echocardiography.

The quantification of ventricular dyssynchrony is a key factor in identifying patients with severe heart failure who may benefit from cardiac resynchronisation with biventricular pacing (BVP). Echocardiographic techniques appear to offer superior sensitivity and specificity than the ECG in selecting these patients. This paper reviews the scope of current echocardiographic techniques for guiding both patient selection and optimisation of device programming following implantation.