PMID- 8508332
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19930714
LR  - 20131121
IS  - 0828-282X (Print)
IS  - 0828-282X (Linking)
VI  - 9
IP  - 3
DP  - 1993 Apr
TI  - Intermittent intravenous amrinone infusion: a potentially cost effective mode of 
      treatment of patients with refractory heart failure.
PG  - 231-7
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the experience of 41 New York Heart Association (NYHA) 
      class III and IV heart failure patients treated with intermittent intravenous 
      amrinone infusions in addition to conventional therapy. BACKGROUND: Congestive 
      heart failure is a condition often requiring repeated admission to hospital. 
      Accordingly, a treatment modality which can reduce the number of admissions is 
      desirable and potentially cost-effective. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of data 
      from hospital and office charts. SETTING: Community hospital with 640 active 
      beds. INTERVENTION: The initial amrinone infusion was administered in the 
      hospital under electrocardiographic monitoring; subsequent infusions were given 
      in an out-patient unit. A bolus injection of 0.75 mg/kg followed by an infusion 
      of 5 to 10 micrograms/kg/min for 8 to 12 h was administered every two to six 
      weeks as clinically indicated. RESULTS: Results are reported for the first 51 
      months. Sixty-six per cent of the patients improved their NYHA class, 34% 
      remained unchanged or deteriorated. Survival paralleled that of other studies 
      involving similar patients not receiving nonglycoside positive inotropes. The 
      number of days spent in the hospital in the six months after starting on amrinone 
      compared with the six months before treatment was reduced to 50% (P < 0.05), and 
      the number of hospital admissions in the six months after starting amrinone 
      compared with the six months before decreased to 56% (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: 
      Intermittent intravenous amrinone infusions can be given in an out-patient 
      setting in patients with NYHA class III to IV heart failure. This program is 
      cost-effective, reducing hospital admissions and in-patient hospital days.
FAU - Levinoff Roth, S N
AU  - Levinoff Roth SN
AD  - Department of Medicine, Scarborough General Hospital, Ontario.
FAU - Moe, G
AU  - Moe G
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - England
TA  - Can J Cardiol
JT  - The Canadian journal of cardiology
JID - 8510280
RN  - JUT23379TN (Amrinone)
SB  - IM
MH  - Aged
MH  - Aged, 80 and over
MH  - Amrinone/*administration & dosage/adverse effects
MH  - Female
MH  - Heart Failure/*drug therapy/physiopathology
MH  - Hospitalization
MH  - Humans
MH  - Infusions, Intravenous
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Ventricular Function, Left
EDAT- 1993/04/01 00:00
MHDA- 1993/04/01 00:01
CRDT- 1993/04/01 00:00
PHST- 1993/04/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1993/04/01 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1993/04/01 00:00 [entrez]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Can J Cardiol. 1993 Apr;9(3):231-7.