• Bernard Cholley, Thibaut Caruba, Sandrine Grosjean, Julien Amour, Alexandre Ouattara, Judith Villacorta, Bertrand Miguet, Patrick Guinet, François Lévy, Pierre Squara, Nora Aït Hamou, Aude Carillion, Julie Boyer, Marie-Fazia Boughenou, Sebastien Rosier, Emmanuel Robin, Mihail Radutoiu, Michel Durand, Catherine Guidon, Olivier Desebbe, Anaïs Charles-Nelson, Philippe Menasché, Bertrand Rozec, Claude Girard, Jean-Luc Fellahi, Romain Pirracchio, Gilles Chatellier, and -.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, AP-HP, and University Paris Descartes-Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.
• JAMA. 2017 Aug 8; 318 (6): 548-556.

ImportanceLow cardiac output syndrome after cardiac surgery is associated with high morbidity and mortality in patients with impaired left ventricular function.ObjectiveTo assess the ability of preoperative levosimendan to prevent postoperative low cardiac output syndrome.Design, Setting, And ParticipantsRandomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 13 French cardiac surgical centers. Patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction less than or equal to 40% and scheduled for isolated or combined coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass were enrolled from June 2013 until May 2015 and followed during 6 months (last follow-up, November 30, 2015).InterventionsPatients were assigned to a 24-hour infusion of levosimendan 0.1 µg/kg/min (n = 167) or placebo (n = 168) initiated after anesthetic induction.Main Outcomes And MeasuresComposite end point reflecting low cardiac output syndrome with need for a catecholamine infusion 48 hours after study drug initiation, need for a left ventricular mechanical assist device or failure to wean from it at 96 hours after study drug initiation when the device was inserted preoperatively, or need for renal replacement therapy at any time postoperatively. It was hypothesized that levosimendan would reduce the incidence of this composite end point by 15% in comparison with placebo.ResultsAmong 336 randomized patients (mean age, 68 years; 16% women), 333 completed the trial. The primary end point occurred in 87 patients (52%) in the levosimendan group and 101 patients (61%) in the placebo group (absolute risk difference taking into account center effect, -7% [95% CI, -17% to 3%]; P = .15). Predefined subgroup analyses found no interaction with ejection fraction less than 30%, type of surgery, and preoperative use of β-blockers, intra-aortic balloon pump, or catecholamines. The prevalence of hypotension (57% vs 48%), atrial fibrillation (50% vs 40%), and other adverse events did not significantly differ between levosimendan and placebo.Conclusions And RelevanceAmong patients with low ejection fraction who were undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass, levosimendan compared with placebo did not result in a significant difference in the composite end point of prolonged catecholamine infusion, use of left ventricular mechanical assist device, or renal replacement therapy. These findings do not support the use of levosimendan for this indication.Trial RegistrationEudraCT Number: 2012-000232-25; clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02184819.

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