Efficacy and safety of intermittent intravenous outpatient administration of levosimendan in patients with advanced heart failure: the LION-HEART multicentre randomised trial

Aims The LION-HEART study was a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of intravenous administration of intermittent doses of levosimendan in outpatients with advanced chronic heart failure. Methods and results Sixty-nine pa...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Comin-Colet, J, Manito, N, Segovia-Cubero, J, Delgado, J, Pinilla, JMG, Almenar, L, Crespo-Leiro, MG, Sionis, A, Blasco, T, Pascual-Figal, D, Gonzalez-Vilchez, F, Lambert-Rodriguez, JL, Grau, M, Bruguera, J
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau)
Repositorio:r-IIB SANT PAU. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica del Instituto de Investigación Biomédica Sant Pau
OAI Identifier:oai:iibsantpau.fundanetsuite.com:p3484
Acceso en línea:https://iibsantpau.fundanetsuite.com/Publicaciones/ProdCientif/PublicacionFrw.aspx?id=3484
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Levosimendan
Pulsed infusions
Outpatient setting
Advanced heart failure
Safety
Natriuretic peptides
Descripción
Sumario:Aims The LION-HEART study was a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of intravenous administration of intermittent doses of levosimendan in outpatients with advanced chronic heart failure. Methods and results Sixty-nine patients from 12 centres were randomly assigned at a 2: 1 ratio to levosimendan or placebo groups, receiving treatment by a 6-hour intravenous infusion (0.2 mu g/kg/min without bolus) every 2weeks for 12weeks. The primary endpoint was the effect on serum concentrations of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) throughout the treatment period in comparison with placebo. Secondary endpoints included evaluation of safety, clinical events and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The area under the curve (AUC, pg.day/mL) of the levels of NT-proBNP over time for patients who received levosimendan was significantly lower than for the placebo group {344 x 10(3) [95% confidence interval (CI) 283 x 10(3)-404 x 10(3)] vs. 535 x 10(3) [443 x 10(3)-626 x 10(3)], P = 0.003}. In comparison with the placebo group, the patients on levosimendan experienced a reduction in the rate of heart failure hospitalisation (hazard ratio 0.25; 95% CI 0.11-0.56; P = 0.001). Patients on levosimendan were less likely to experience a clinically significant decline in HRQoL over time (P = 0.022). Adverse event rates were similar in the two treatment groups. Conclusions In this small pilot study, intermittent administration of levosimendan to ambulatory patients with advanced systolic heart failure reduced plasma concentrations of NT-proBNP, worsening of HRQoL and hospitalisation for heart failure. The efficacy and safety of this intervention should be confirmed in larger trials.