Levosimendan and Global Longitudinal Strain Assessment in Sepsis (GLASSES 1): a study protocol for an observational

Iacopo Cappellini1, Alessandra Melai2, Lucia Zamidei2

  • 1Department of Critical Care Section of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Azienda USL Toscana Centro, Prato, Italy iacopo.cappellini@uslcentro.toscana.it.

BMJ Open
|September 26, 2020
PubMed

Insights

This study investigates levosimendan

Area of Science:

  • Critical Care Medicine
  • Cardiology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Cardiogenic shock, often caused by ischemic heart disease or sepsis, signifies end-stage cardiac dysfunction.
  • The efficacy of levosimendan in managing cardiogenic shock specifically during sepsis remains an area of ongoing clinical investigation.
  • Septic shock presents complex hemodynamic challenges, necessitating advanced monitoring and therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of levosimendan on cardiac function, specifically global longitudinal strain (GLS), in patients with septic shock.
  • To assess the secondary outcome of mortality reduction in patients with septic shock treated with levosimendan.
  • To explore the combined use of dobutamine and levosimendan in improving hemodynamic parameters.

Main Methods:

  • An observational, single-center study enrolled 18-80 year olds with septic shock and low cardiac index (<2.5 L/min/m²)/stroke volume index (<30 mL/beat/m²).
  • Hemodynamic monitoring utilized the EV1000/VolumeView device, with echocardiography (Vivid S6) to calculate global longitudinal strain (GLS).
  • Patients received dobutamine, followed by levosimendan, with serial assessments of cardiac index (CI), stroke volume index (SVI), and GLS.

Main Results:

  • Primary endpoint: recovery of GLS ≥15%.
  • Secondary endpoint: a relative reduction in mortality of 15%.
  • Hemodynamic parameters including CI, SVI, and the ratio of arterial elastance (Ea) to ventricular elastance (Ees) were re-evaluated post-intervention.

Conclusions:

  • The study aims to provide data on the effectiveness of levosimendan in improving myocardial function in septic shock.
  • Findings will contribute to the understanding of levosimendan's role in managing complex cardiogenic shock during sepsis.
  • Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.
Abstract