Preoperative Levosimendan Administration in Heart Transplant Patients with Severe Hepatic and Renal Impairment: A...

The cardio-renal syndrome and hepatic impairment play a critical role in end-stage heart failure (HF). Levosimendan is an effective inotropic agent used to maintain cardiac output similar to classic cardiotonic like dobutamine/dopamine. This current research aims to investigate the clinical outcomes of levosimendan and dobutamine/dopamine in Chinese heart transplant awaiting patients with severe hepatic or renal impairment.

We performed a retrospective analysis of 568 heart transplant awaiting individuals with severe hepatic or renal impairment who treated with levosimendan or dobutamine/dopamine in our institution between January 2015 and December 2020. Univariate Cox proportional hazard models and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were applied. The primary endpoint was defined as death included inhospital mortality and the mortality at 30 days, 90 days, 180 days and 1 year after heart transplantation.

There were no significant differences in mortality rate at 30, 90, 180 days and 1 years after heart transplantation between the levosimendan and non-levosimendan groups, or between subgroups of patients with severe hepatic impairment or renal impairment. The results were consistent before and after propensity score matching.

In the population with advanced heart failure awaiting heart transplantation, levosimendan did not increase short- or long-term mortality rates after surgery compared to dobutamine/dopamine, regardless of their hepatic or renal function. Severe hepatic or renal impairment were not necessarily considered a contraindication for levosimendan in these patients.