• Stefan G De Hert, Suraphong Lorsomradee, Hervé vanden Eede, Stefanie Cromheecke, and Philippe J Van der Linden.
• Department of Anesthesiology, University of Amsterdam, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. s.g.dehert@amc.uva.nl
• J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2008 Oct 1;22(5):699-705.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effects of 2 different administration modalities of levosimendan (start before cardiopulmonary bypass [CPB] and at the end of CPB) compared with a standard treatment with milrinone started at the end of CPB in cardiac surgery patients with a preoperative ejection fraction <30%.DesignA prospective study.SettingA university hospital.ParticipantsSixty patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery with CPB.InterventionsPatients were randomly assigned to 3 different treatment options for weaning from CPB after cardiac surgery. Group A received milrinone, 0.5 microg/kg/min, after the release of the aortic cross-clamp; group B received levosimendan, 0.1 microg/kg/min, after the induction of anesthesia; and in group C, levosimendan, 0.1 microg/kg/min, was started immediately after the release of the aortic cross-clamp. In all patients, additional dobutamine, 5 microg/kg/min, was initiated after the release of the aortic cross-clamp. Norepinephrine maintained mean arterial pressure constant.Measurements And Main ResultsStroke volume after surgery was initially higher than at baseline in all groups and highest in group B. Stroke volume declined 12 hours after surgery in group A but not in groups B and C (p < 0.05 between groups), despite similar filling pressures. Four patients in group A, none in group B, and 1 in group C died within 30 days of surgery. Postoperative atrial fibrillation was observed in 10 patients in group A, 7 patients in group C, and only 1 in group B (p < 0.01). No differences were observed in postoperative troponin I release among groups.ConclusionIn the conditions of the present study, starting the levosimendan treatment before CPB was associated with a higher initial postoperative stroke volume and a lower incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation, but had no effect on the extent of postoperative troponin I release.

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