New therapeutic choices in the management of acute congestive heart failure

Patients with acute congestive heart failure generally present with profound fluid retention states and dyspnea due to pulmonary edema. If the condition is not aggressively and appropriately treated, irreversible cardiac decompensation may ensue, leading to cardiogenic shock, multiorgan failure, and death. Intravenous inotropic, vasopressor, and vasodilator therapies have proved effective in initial stabilization of acute heart failure decompensation, but these agents, particularly the traditionally used ones, are generally limited by side effects that can be egregious and include substantive ventricular arrhythmias. Dobutamine has largely replaced agents with rather profound toxicity, such as isoproterenol and epinephrine. The phosphodiesterase-inhibiting agent milrinone, having both vasodilator and inotropic properties, can produce tachycardia and significant ventricular arrhythmias, but has proven quite useful for seriously ill patients. Clinical trials of levosimendan have found a positive inotropic response when the drug is given parenterally; vasodilating properties are also evident. Clinical trials are under way to evaluate the potential benefits of endothelin receptor antagonists when given intravenously. Intravenous administration of nesiritide, a recombinant human B-type natriuretic peptide, has been shown to produce favorable hemodynamic effects, including balanced vasodilation associated with a rapid improvement in clinical symptoms.