Journal Article

Levosimendan in Patients with Left Ventricular Dysfunction Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

Marcel, Randy, Argenziano, Michael, Kalavrouziotis, Dimitri, Goodman, Shaun G, Alexander, John H, van Diepen, Sean, Meza, James, Harrington, Robert A, Mehta, Rajendra H, Leimberger, Jeffrey D, Soltesz, Edward G, Nagpal, Dave, Heringlake, Matthias, Bozinovski, John, Harrison, Robert W, Murphy, Edward, Toller, Wolfgang, Luber, John, Wang, Alice, Duncan, Andra, Anstrom, Kevin J, Park, Soon, Fremes, Stephen, Jankowich, Rachael, Hay, Douglas, Levy, Jerrold H

2017

Overview

In this trial, 882 cardiac surgical patients with left ventricular dysfunction were assigned to levosimendan or placebo. There was no between-group difference in the rate of death, renal-replacement therapy, perioperative myocardial infarction, or mechanical cardiac assist device use. Cardiac surgery with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass is a common procedure, with more than 1 million operations performed annually in the United States and Europe. 1 Increasingly, patients who are referred for cardiac surgery are older and have multiple coexisting conditions, as compared with those who were referred for these procedures in the past. 2 These patients benefit from cardiac surgery but are at increased risk for perioperative complications that result in high morbidity and mortality and a high use of health care services. 2 – 4 One such complication, the low cardiac output syndrome, occurs in 3 to 14% of patients who . . .

• Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society
• Subject: Aged / Cardiac Output, Low - drug therapy / Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Cardiotonic Agents - adverse effects / Cardiotonic Agents - therapeutic use / Clinical outcomes / Clinical trials / Double-Blind Method / Drug therapy / Female / Heart failure / Heart surgery / Heart-Assist Devices - statistics & numerical data / Humans / Hydrazones - adverse effects / Hydrazones - therapeutic use / Infusions, Intravenous / Male / Middle Aged / Mortality / Myocardial Infarction - epidemiology / Perioperative Period / Pharmaceuticals / Postoperative Complications - drug therapy / Pyridazines - adverse effects / Pyridazines - therapeutic use / Renal Replacement Therapy - statistics & numerical data / Simendan / Stroke Volume - drug effects / Treatment Failure / Ventricular Dysfunction, Left - drug therapy