Efficacy of levosimendan in elderly refractory heart failure patients

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of intravenous levosimendan in elderly refractory heart failure patients. Methods 148 patients with a diagnosis of refractory heart failure and were hospitalized in the CICU department in Tianjin Chest Hospital were enrolled consecutively in our study. The patients were divided into the elderly group (age ≥60 years, n=82) and the non-elderly group (age <60 years, n=66). The changes of parameters before and after the application of intravenous levosimendan and adverse events were compared between the two groups. Results After 24 hours intravenous use of intravenous levosimendan, the echocardiogram and laboratory tests improved significantly than before (All P 0.05). The most common adverse effects in the elderly group was hypotension (12.2%). There was no significant difference in the in-hospital mortality between the two groups (P=0.076). Conclusions Levosimendan has a good efficacy and safety on improving cardiac function in refractory heart failure patients with different ages, and probably more effective in elderly patients. Key words: Aged; Heart failure; Treatment outcome