ABSTRACT
Objective To observe levosimendan-induced hemodynamic improvement of chronic decompensated heart failure patients and adverse effects,and sum up the nursing experience of Levosimendan.Methods Sixty-three patients with decompensated heart failure were treated with Levosimendan,based on optimized conventional treatment for heart failure.Aminoterminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and left ventricle ejective fraction (LVEF) were measured at baseline and one week after Levosimendan administration.In addition,we summarized the clinical observation,adverse effects and nursing experiences of treatment with Levosimendan in decompensated heart failure patients.Results Levosimendan increased 24-hour urine output in patients at the first day after treatment.This effect of levosimendan persisted for 7 days at least.We observed an improvement in LVEF and a reduction of NT-pro-BNP at 7 days after the initiation of levosimendan treatment.Clinical efficiency of levosimendan in patients was 84.1％ in this study.Twenty two patients(34.9％) experienced different adverse events.Conclusions Levosimendan therapy can improve cardiac function and reduce BNP in patients with decompensated heart failure.The rate of adverse effects of Levosimendan is high.It is important to enhance therapy effect by careful nursing and observing variety state during treatment with Levosimendan.These data will be useful for the nursing care of Levosimendan in clinical practice.