Levosimendan in Congenital Cardiac Surgery: A Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trial

Levosimendan versus milrinone in neonates and infants after corrective open-heart surgery: a pilot study

OBJECTIVE

Low cardiac output syndrome commonly complicates the postoperative course after open-heart surgery in children. To prevent low cardiac output syndrome, prophylactic administration of milrinone after cardiopulmonary bypass is commonly used in small children. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of prophylactically administered levosimendan and milrinone on cardiac index in neonates and infants after corrective open-heart surgery.

DESIGN

Prospective, single-center, double-blind, randomized pilot study.

SETTING

Tertiary care center, postoperative pediatric cardiac intensive care unit.

PATIENTS

After written informed consent, 40 infants undergoing corrective open-heart surgery were included.

INTERVENTIONS

At weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass, either a 24-hr infusion of 0.1 μg/kg/min levosimendan or of 0.5 μg/kg/min milrinone were administered. Cardiac output was evaluated at 2, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 48 hrs after cardiopulmonary bypass using a transesophageal Doppler technique (Cardio-QP, Deltex Medical, Chichester, UK). Cardiac index was calculated from cardiac output and the patients' respective body surface area.

RESULTS

Intention-to-treat data of 39 patients (19 in the levosimendan and 20 in the milrinone group) were analyzed using analysis of variance for repeated measurements for statistics. Analysis of variance revealed for both, cardiac index and cardiac output, similar results with no significant differences of the factors group and time. A significant interaction for cardiac output (p = .005) and cardiac index (p = .007) was found, which indicates different time courses of cardiac index in the two groups. Both drugs were well tolerated; no death or serious adverse event occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

In our small study, postoperative cardiac index over time was similar in patients with prophylactically administered levosimendan and patients with prophylactically given milrinone. We observed an increase in cardiac output and cardiac index over time in the levosimendan group, whereas cardiac output and cardiac index remained stable in the milrinone group. This pilot study has primarily served to obtain experience using the new drug levosimendan in neonates and infants and to initiate further multicenter trials in pediatric patients.

Single-center experience with levosimendan in children undergoing cardiac surgery and in children with decompensated heart failure

Background

Levosimendan has pharmacologic and hemodynamic advantages over conventional intravenous inotropic agents. It has been used mainly as a rescue drug in the pediatric intensive care unit or in the operating room. We present the largest single-center experience of levosimendan in children.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of all children who received levosimendan infusions between July 5, 2001 and July 4, 2010 in a pediatric intensive care unit. The results of a questionnaire for physicians (anesthesiologist/intensivists, cardiologists and cardiac surgeons) concerning their clinical perceptions of levosimendan are evaluated

Results

During the study period a total of 484 infusions were delivered to 293 patients 53% of whom were male. The median age of the patients was 0.4 years (4 hours-21.1 years) at the time of levosimendan administration. A majority of levosimendan infusions were administered to children who were undergoing cardiac surgery (72%), 14% to children with cardiomyopathy and 14% to children with cardiac failure. Eighty-nine out of the 293 patients (30.4%) received repeated doses of levosimendan (up to 11 infusions). The most common indication for the use of levosimendan (94%) was when the other inotropic agents were insufficient to maintain stable hemodynamics. Levosimendan was especially used in children with cardiomyopathy (100%) or with low cardiac output syndrome (94%). A majority (89%) of the respondents believed that levosimendan administration postponed the need for mechanical assist devices in some children with cardiomyopathy. Moreover, 44% of respondents thought that the mechanical support was totally avoided in some patients undergoing cardiac surgery after receiving levosimendan.

Conclusion

Levosimendan is widely used in our institution and many physicians believe that its use could decrease the need for mechanical support in children undergoing cardiac surgery or in children with decompensated heart failure. However, there is a lack of good empirical evidence in children to support this perception.