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Effect of vesnarinone on cardiac function in patients with severe congestive heart failure
M Scherrer-Crosbie1, D Cocca-Spofford, T G DiSalvo
1Cardiac Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114-2698, USA.
Background:
Vesnarinone has yielded controversial results on morbidity in patients with congestive heart failure. We tested the hypothesis that vesnarinone may have a beneficial effect on cardiac remodeling and function.
Methods:
Thirty-four patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <30% (17 treated with vesnarinone) underwent an echocardiography at baseline and at 12+/-5 months. Left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volume, mitral regurgitation, diastolic filling, and right ventricular area change were quantified and compared.
Results:
When the vesnarinone group was considered as a whole, there was no significant effect of vesnarinone on cardiac systolic and diastolic function or remodeling. However, an increase in LVEF >7% was observed in six of the vesnarinone patients and none of the control group. Vesnarinone improved right and left ventricular systolic function significantly in patients with initial LVEF <25%.
Conclusions:
In severe congestive heart failure, vesnarinone induces variable responses but improves biventricular performance in patients with the most impaired initial function.