• Carlo Lucioni, Alessandra D'Ambrosi, Silvio Mazzi, Piero Pollesello, Marjo Apajasalo, and Francesco Fedele.
• Springer Healthcare, via Lanino 5, 20144, Milano, Italy. carlo.lucioni@springer.com
• Adv Ther. 2012 Dec 1;29(12):1037-50.

IntroductionInodilators are the first-choice class of drugs for the treatment of acute heart failure (AHF). Levosimendan is a relatively recent inodilatory agent, presenting superior outcomes in comparison with traditional inotropes.MethodsAn economic evaluation of levosimendan for the treatment of AHF in Italy was performed. In a retrospective study conducted on patients with AHF admitted to a teaching hospital in Rome, two groups were derived from an observational registry: 147 patients treated with levosimendan and 145 treated with dobutamine. Follow-up was at 1 year after treatment. In the reference study looked at in this paper, treatment with levosimendan reduced mean length of stay (LOS) by 1.5 days (P<0.05). Reduction in the rehospitalization rate was 6.7% (P<0.05). Mortality rate at 1 month was reduced by 4.8% (P<0.05).ResultsBased on the reference study, a cost analysis from the hospital perspective was carried out. The incremental cost of treatment with levosimendan (€697) was equivalent to the incremental savings (€694), the latter being obtained from the reduction in LOS (€508) and rehospitalization rate (€186).ConclusionDespite the limitations of this study, and even neglecting all nonmonetary health gains as additional outcomes, levosimendan appears to be a competitive alternative compared with dobutamine for the treatment of AHF in the Italian hospital setting.

20 keywords...

hide…