Efficacy and safety of L-carnitine in treatment of aged patients with chronic heart failure

Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of L-Carnitine in the treatment of aged patients with chronic heart failure.Methods 50 patients with chronic heart failure were devided randomly into two groups:controlled group and L-Carnitine group.Both groups received conventional treatment to improve cardiac function.Meanwhile L-Carnitine group received additionally L-Carnitine infusion 3 g in 5% glucose 250 ml everyday,for 15 days,then oral L-Carnitine 2.0 g/d for 15 days.Results L-Carnitine has significantly improved heart disfunction(total efficiency 84.0% vs 60.0%)and left ventricular systolic function compared with controlled group(P0.05).No side-effect was observed.Conclusion L-Carnitine is an effective and safe drug to improve heart function in aged patients with chronic heart failure patients.