TY - JOUR TI - Hemodynamic effects of Levosimendan added to Dobutamine in patients with decompensated advanced heart failure refractory to Dobutamine alone AU - Nanas, JN AU - Papazoglou, PP AU - Terrovitis, JV AU - Kanakakis, J and AU - Dalianis, A AU - Tsolakis, E AU - Tsagalou, EP AU - Agrios, N and AU - Christodoulou, K AU - Anastasiou-Nana, MI JO - AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY PY - 2004 VL - 94 TODO - 10 SP - 1329-1332 PB - Excerpta Medica Inc. SN - 0002-9149 TODO - 10.1016/j.amjcard.2004.07.128 TODO - null TODO - A 24-hour infusion of levosimendan was added to dobutamine in 18 patients (aged 63 +/- 9 years) hospitalized for management of decompensated New York Heart Association functional class IV heart failure refractory to a continuous 24-hour infusion of dobutamine (10 mug/kg/min) and furosemide (10 mg/hour); the primary study end point was a greater than or equal to40% increase in cardiac index and a greater than or equal to25% decrease in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure compared with pretreatment measurements. The primary end point was reached in none of the patients treated with dobutamine alone versus 7 patients (39%) treated with levosimendan and dobutamine combined (p = 0.008), whereas at 24 hours, the combined treatment was associated with a 0.76 +/- 0.78 L/min/m(2) (p = 0.001) mean increase in cardiac index and a 6.4 +/- 7.3 mm Hg (p = 0.002) mean decrease in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure compared with measurements obtained after 24 hours of dobutamine infusion alone. Symptoms were alleviated in, all patients, and all but 3 were discharged from the hospital. (C) 2004 by Excerpta Medica, Inc. ER -