Oct 8 (Reuters) - A federal advisory panel recommended that Medtronic Inc be allowed to sell certain implantable electronic heart devices to a larger pool of patients, based on study results that showed the products reduced the risk of death and hospitalization.

The panel of expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 4-3 on Tuesday to recommend that Medtronic be approved to sell the products, called cardiac resynchronization therapy devices, to patients who suffer from an abnormal heart rhythm called atrioventricular block.

The devices, also known as CRT-defibrillators and CRT-pacemakers, deliver electrical impulses to both lower chambers of the heart to restore its normal rhythm.