• Annina Jacky, Alain Rudiger, Bernard Krüger, Markus J Wilhelm, Sebastian Paal, Burkhardt Seifert, Donat R Spahn, and Dominique Bettex.
• Institute of Anaesthesiology, University and University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
• J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2018 Oct 1; 32 (5): 2112-2119.

ObjectivesPharmacodynamics suggests that levosimendan might be a valuable inotrope for weaning from extracorporeal life support (ECLS). As there is a paucity of evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of such an approach, the aim was to report the authors' experiences in ECLS weaning before and after the implementation of levosimendan in clinical practice.DesignRetrospective before-and-after study.SettingCardiac intensive care unit of a university hospital.ParticipantsA total of 64 patients under ECLS for postcardiotomy cardiac failure, who underwent an ECLS weaning trial.InterventionGroup comparisons between patients treated with levosimendan and patients treated with milrinone were made with the Mann-Whitney U test or the Pearson chi-squared test. Results are given as median (interquartile range) or numbers (percentages).Measurements And Main ResultsOf 64 patients, 26 (41%) received levosimendan. Successful ECLS weaning was achieved in 24 (92%) and 30 patients (79%) in the levosimendan and milrinone group, respectively (p = 0.18). In the levosimendan group, fewer patients had an intra-aortic balloon pump for weaning (2 [7.7%] v 15 [40%], p = 0.008). The support with norepinephrine was similar in the levosimendan and milrinone groups at the time of ECLS removal (0.06 [0.01-0.11] v 0.07 [0.01-0.16] µg/kg/min, p = 0.64) and 24 hours later (0.06 [0.04-0.09] v 0.04 [0.00-0.09] µg/kg/min, p = 0.15). Twenty-eight days (9/26 (35%) v 14/35 (40%), p = 0.28) and 180 days (13/26 [50%] v 15/34 [44%], p = 0.80) mortalities after ECLS removal were similar in the levosimendan and the milrinone groups.ConclusionLevosimendan enabled ECLS weaning without increasing norepinephrine requirements when compared to a control group receiving milrinone.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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