Key result
Inotropes increase cardiac index by ~0.32 vs placebo but show no hemodynamic differences between agents.
Why the study?
There is currently no consensus on the appropriate selection of inotropic therapy in ventricular dysfunction.
Do inotropic drugs improve cardiac index and other hemodynamic parameters compared to placebo or other inotropes in patients with heart failure?
Meta-Analysis (n=1,402)
Do inotropic drugs improve cardiac index and other hemodynamic parameters compared to placebo or other inotropes in patients with heart failure?
Effect estimate: MD 0.32 (95% CI 0.25, 0.38)
Inotropic drugs improve hemodynamic parameters such as cardiac index and mean arterial pressure compared to placebo in heart failure patients, though no single inotrope class demonstrated absolute overall superiority.
Inotropes raise cardiac index versus placebo in HF; confirms no hemodynamic superiority among classes.
BACKGROUND: There is currently no consensus on the appropriate selection of inotropic therapy in ventricular dysfunction. The objective of the study was to detect the effects of different inotropes on the hemodynamics of patients who developed low cardiac output. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were searched (all updated December 31, 2017). The inclusion criteria were as follows: low cardiac index (CI < 2.5 L/min/m) or New York Heart Association class II-IV, and at least 1 group receiving an inotropic drug compared to another group receiving a different inotropic/placebo treatment. The exclusion criteria were studies published as an abstract only, crossover studies, and studies with a lack of data on the cardiac index. RESULTS: A total of 1402 patients from 37 trials were included in the study. Inotropic drugs were shown to increase the cardiac index (0.32, 95%CI:0.25, 0.38), heart rate (7.68, 95%CI:6.36, 9.01), and mean arterial pressure (3.17, 95%CI:1.96, 4.38) than the placebo. Overall, the pooled estimates showed no difference in terms of cardiac index, heart rate, mean arterial pressure, systemic vascular resistance, and mean pulmonary arterial pressure among the groups receiving different inotropes. CONCLUSIONS: Our systematic review found that inotrope therapy is not associated with the amelioration of hemodynamics. An accurate evaluation of the benefits and risks, and selection of the correct inotropic agent is required in all clinical settings.
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Long et al. (2019) conducted a meta-analysis in Heart failure (n=1,402). Inotropic drugs vs. Placebo or other inotropic drugs was evaluated on Cardiac index (MD 0.32, 95% CI 0.25, 0.38). Inotropic drugs increased the cardiac index by 0.32 compared to placebo, but overall pooled estimates showed no significant difference in hemodynamics among the different inotrope groups.
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