Abstract:Objective To evaluate the efficiency of levosimendan on the heart function in the elderly patients with acute left heart failure. Methods Seventy-two elderly patients with acute left heart failure hospitalized in our department from June 2011 to June 2013 were enrolled in this study. There were 49 males and 23 females, with an age of 65 to 87 (75.1±9.8) years. These patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups, control and levosimendan group (n=36). Control group accepted conventional therapy to treat acute left heart failure. Levosimendan group accepted levosimendan besides the same conventional therapy as in control group. The difference of clinical symptoms and signs of acute heart failure, cardiac output stroke volume (SV), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and serum level of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) were compared between the 2 groups. Results Clinical symptoms and signs of acute left heart failure were improved significantly after treatment. SV and LVEF were increased, while the serum level of NT-pro-BNP was decreased significantly in both groups (P<0.05). But the total effective rate was significantly higher in the levosimendan group than in the control group (94.4% vs 69.4%, P<0.05). Compared with control group, the increase of SV and LVEF, and the decrease of NT-pro-BNP was more significant in levosimendan group (P<0.05). Conclusion Levosimendan controls the symptoms and signs of acute left heart failure with great efficiency and safety.