Managing acute heart failure

Abstract

Acute heart failure is a condition associated with high mortality rates and one difficult to treat. As no large mortality studies demonstrating an effect of treatment on survival have been reported, treatment is based on experience and is largely empirical. Factors central to the decision regarding the therapy to be used include the patient's clinical condition and the cause of heart failure. The main class of drugs used in pharmacotherapy are diuretics, with vasodilators used in patients with a hypertensive response while, conversely, positive inotropic agents are administered to those with hypotension. All these modes of action are combined in levosimedan, a calcium sensitizer. Drug therapy is usually complemented with mechanical ventilation, and/or methods of elimination. patients require surgery, and various support systems have emerged recently, which hold promise for the most critically ill.