Marrick L. Kukin

TL;DR: The findings indicate that despite its beneficial hemodynamic actions, long-term therapy with oral milrinone increases the morbidity and mortality of patients with severe chronic heart failure.

TL;DR: In a multicenter trial as mentioned in this paper, patients with moderate to severe heart failure (6-minute walk distance, 150 to 450 m) and a left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 0.35 at 31 centers were randomly assigned to either placebo or carvedilol for 6 months, while background therapy with digoxin, diuretics and an ACE inhibitor remained constant.

TL;DR: Patients hospitalized for heart failure with a normal ejection fraction are most often chronically incapacitated elderly women with a history of hypertension and increased LV mass, and reasons for clinical decompensation are identified in only one-half of patients.

TL;DR: Compared with the placebo group, patients in the carvedilol group showed improved cardiac performance, as reflected by an increase in left ventricular ejection fraction and stroke volume index and a decrease in pulmonary wedge pressure, mean right atrial pressure, and systemic vascular resistance.

TL;DR: Data indicate that, in patients with chronic heart failure, plasma atrial natriuretic peptide provides important prognostic information, which may relate to the ability of the hormone to reflect the interplay of several pathophysiologic factors that contribute to mortality in this disease.