Chronic oral amrinone therapy in congestive heart failure: a double-blind placebo-controlled withdrawal study

Eighteen patients with congestive heart failure were studied in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled withdrawal trial to evaluate the effectiveness of chronic oral amrinone therapy when added to conventional heart failure therapy. All patients received a four-week lead-in of amrinone 100 mg orally every 8 h, then were randomly assigned to either continued amrinone (nine patients) or placebo (nine patients) groups. Compared to placebo, chronic amrinone therapy did not significantly improve clinical status, left ventricular function as measured by non-invasive testing techniques, or exercise tolerance. Side-effects occurred in every patient receiving amrinone and abated in those patients who received placebo for the last 12 weeks of the study. The limited effectiveness of oral amrinone and the high frequency of side-effects preclude the widespread use of this drug in the chronic therapy of congestive heart failure.