Short-term efficacy and safety of levosimendan in patients with chronic systolic heart failure

The objective was to investigate and evaluate the short-term efficacy and safety of levosimendan in patients with chronic systolic heart failure. Forty-nine patients with chronic systolic heart failure during acute decompensation were randomly divided into a levosimendan group (26 cases) and a control group (23 cases). The control group received only routine treatment, while the levosimendan group received a levosimendan bolus with a load of 12 µg/kg, in addition to the same routine treatment as the control group. After 48 hours of treatment, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels in the levosimendan group were significantly lower than those in the control group. In addition, the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and New York Heart Association (NYHA) cardiac function scores of the levosimendan group were significantly higher and more improved than those of the control group seven days after treatment, but there was no significant difference in the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter between the two groups. Furthermore, 48 hours after treatment, there were no significant differences in potassium, haemoglobin, haematocrit and creatinine levels between the levosimendan and control groups. During the whole hospitalisation, there was one case of sudden death in the control group and one case of palpitations in the levosimendan group, and no hypotension or severe hypokalaemia occurred in either group. Levosimendan significantly improved NT-proBNP and LVEF in patients with chronic systolic heart failure, and improved NYHA cardiac function classification without significant cardiovascular events. Levosimendan is therefore effective and safe in the short-term treatment of chronic systolic heart failure.