New positive inotropic agents in the treatment of left ventricular dysfunction.

Leonardo De Luca, Paola Proietti, Gian Luca Palombaro, Alessandro Battagliese, Annalisa Celotto, Chiara Bucciarelli Ducci, Francesco Fedele

Journal: Italian heart journal : official journal of the Italian Federation of Cardiology 2004;5 Suppl 6():63S-67S

PMID: 15185917

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Abstract

Three major classes of inotropic agents have been clinically evaluated in patients with left ventricular dysfunction: a) agents that increase the intracellular concentration of cyclic adenosine monophosphate by stimulating the beta-adrenergic receptor or inhibiting phosphodiesterase; b) drugs that increase the intracellular sodium concentration; c) the new calcium-sensitizing drugs. This review will focus on the newest drug for each of the above-mentioned classes of inotropic agents. Moreover, we present a new protocol which provides the use of levosimendan in patients with post-ischemic left ventricular dysfunction.

Address: Department of Cardiovcascular and Respiratory Sciences, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. [email protected]

MeSH Terms: Cardiotonic Agents, Diastole, Heart Failure, Humans, Hydrazones, Milrinone, Myocardial Ischemia, Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors, Pyrazines, Pyridazines, Quinolines, Simendan, Ventricular Dysfunction, Left, Ventricular Function, Left