Intermittent 6-month low-dose dobutamine infusion in severe heart failure: DICE multicenter trial

Patients with end-stage heart failure are often refractory to maximal oral therapy, and they have high mortality rates, poor quality of life, and frequent hospitalizations with elevated health care costs. Intermittent dobutamine therapy has been suggested as an additional option in this clinical setting.

Thirty-eight patients clinically stable for at least 48 hours with standard treatment, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III or IV, cardiac index

Six-month intermittent low-dose dobutamine administration was well tolerated by patients with severe CHF; it did not improve the functional status and did not significantly increase the mortality rate as found with higher dobutamine doses in other studies. Hospitalizations for all causes and for worsening of CHF tended to be fewer in the dobutamine group.