Levosimendan following coronary artery bypass grafting in a patient with end-stage renal failure: a case report

Levosimendan is a novel inotropic agent indicated for patients with decompensated heart failure. It has well recognised mechanisms of action. Its use however, has not been described in patients with end-stage renal failure. This report describes the use of levosimendan in a post-operative coronary artery bypass graft patient with decompensated heart failure and end-stage renal failure previously receiving dialysis six days per week. Levosimendan proved to be a safe and useful agent when used as a continuous intravenous infusion initially at 0.05 microg/kg/min then increasing up to 0.2 microg/kg/min for a total of 42 hours.