| Popis: |
Thirty-six consecutive patients in New York Heart Association functional class IV, who were resistant to 24-hour continuous dobutamine infusion, were treated with continuous infusions of dobutamine 10 mu g/kg/min for >= 48 hours (group I, In = 18), followed by weekly intermittent 8-hour infusions or more often if needed. In group II (n = 18), after the initial 24-hour infusion of dobutamine, a 24-hour levosimendan infusion was added followed by biweekly 24-hour infusions. The addition of intermittent levosimendan infusions prolonged the survival of patients with advanced heart failure refractory to intermittent dobutamine infusions (45-day survival rates were 6% and 61% in groups I and II, respectively; p = 0.0002, log-rank test). (c) 2005 by Excerpta Medica Inc. |
