Effects of intravenous milrinone followed by titration of high-dose oral vasodilator therapy on clinical outcome and rehospitalization rates in patients with severe heart failure

This study evaluated the efficacy of intravenous milrinone in improving hemodynamics and facilitating the titration of high-dose oral vasodilator therapy to improve clinical status. Fourteen patients (mean age 52 ± 12 years) with severe heart failure and a left ventricular ejection fraction of 18 ± 6% underwent right-side heart catheterization and an intravenous milrinone infusion followed by titration of oral vasodilator and diuretic therapy. Milrinone significantly (p <0.05) improved right atrial pressure (12 ± 5 to 8 ± 5 mm Hg), pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (23 ± 7 to 15 ± 7 mm Hg), cardiac index (1.9 ± 0.4 to 3.4 ± 0.5 L/min/m2), systemic vascular resistance (1,809 ± 526 to 891 ± 144 dynes/s/cm−5), and pulmonary vascular resistance (285 ± 151 to 163 ± 68 dynes/s/cm−5), which was maintained in 10 patients with titration of high-dose oral vasodilator therapy. Oral angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and diuretic doses were increased 318% and 89%, respectively. Four patients also received hydralazine to optimize hemodynamics. New York Heart Association functional class improved from 3.8 ± 0.4 to 2.6 ± 0.6 following therapy. Ten patients who responded to therapy had fewer hospitalized days during the subsequent year compared with the year before treatment (4 ± 17 vs 17 ± 15), and no patient died. In contrast, the 3 patients who responded poorly to therapy tended to have more hospitalized days at 12 months compared with pretreatment (31 ± 11 vs 20 ± 18; NS); 1 patient died. We conclude that intravenous milrinone followed by optimization of oral medical therapy may be used as a therapeutic trial to identify patients in need of cardiac transplantation.