title: Effect of pimobendan in patients with chronic heart failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effects of a calcium sensitizer, pimobendan, in patients with mild to moderate chronic heart failure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pimobendan was administered at a dose of 2.5 mg/day for 12 months to 34 patients with chronic heart failure (New York Heart Association functional class IIm to III) after treatment with diuretics and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. The etiologies of heart failure were dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), old myocardial infarction (OMI) and other heart disease (Others). The effects of pimobendan were assessed by echocardiography, blood pool scintigraphy, Holter monitoring, (123)I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging and (123)I-beta-methyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pimobendan produced improvement of symptoms in the majority of patients. Improvement was more common in the DCM group than in the OMI group. Left ventricular internal diameter measured by echocardiography was significantly decreased. Left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly increased in the DCM and Others groups. The heart to mediastinum ratio on MIBG imaging was significantly increased in the DCM and Others groups, and the heart to mediastinum ratio on BMIPP imaging was significantly increased in the DCM group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pimobendan is effective in patients with chronic heart failure but is less effective in patients with OMI than in patients with DCM or other heart diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, Aoto Hospital, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arino
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noma