Abstract
Several preclinical studies have shown that spinal cord stimulation (SCS) reduces sympathetic activation, reverses adverse cardiac remodelling, improves pump function, and suppresses ventricular arrhythmias in animal models of heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction and suppresses ventricular arrhythmias in animal models of HF with reduced ejection fraction.1-4 However, the mechanism of SCS benefit in experimental HF remains poorly defined, and data on SCS in patients with HF is limited. Several biomarkers reflect pivotal aspects of HF pathophysiology and severity (e.g. neurohormonal activation, inflammation and cytokine triggering), and cardiac injury and stress.
The effect of SCS on these biomarkers in patients with chronic HF remains largely unknown. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that SCS improves levels of neurohormones, inflammatory markers and cytokines and that this is paralleled by a reduction in biomarkers reflecting cardiac stress and injury.