Abstract:Objective To analyze the effects of different doses of levosimendan on cardiac function and prognosis in elderly patients with severe heart failure.Methods A total of 150 elderly patients with severe heart failure who were admitted to Jinhua Municipal Central Hospital from May 2016 to June 2019 were randomly divided into three groups, with 50 cases in each group. All patients were given conventional treatment, and patients with underlying diseases such as hypertension and diabetes were given antihypertensive and hypoglycemic drugs to control blood pressure and blood sugar, while those with mitral valve stenosis were treated with balloon dilation and surgical valve replacement. On the basis of these treatments, group A, B, and C were administrated 0.2 μg/(kg·min), 0.3 μg/(kg·min), and 0.4 μg/(kg·min) of levosimendan, respectively. The cardiac function [left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), stroke volume (SV), and myocardial performance index (MPI)], heart failure marker [N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP)], apoptosis of myocardial cells [soluble Fas (sFas) and sFas ligand (sFasL)], hemodynamics [heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and cardiac index (CI)], adverse reactions, 1-year survival rate and other indicators were compared among the groups.Results There was no difference in LVEF, SV, MPI, NT-proBNP, sFas, sFasL, MAP, CI, and HR before the treatment among the groups (P > 0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment, group C showed higher LVEF and SV but lower MPI than group A and B (P < 0.05). The levels of NT-proBNP, sFas, and sFasL were lower in group C compared with group A and B (P < 0.05). Besides, MAP and CI were higher but HR was lower in group C than in group A and B (P < 0.05). However, no difference was observed in adverse reactions or 1-year survival rate among the groups (P > 0.05).Conclusions Levosimendan at the dose of 0.4 μg/(kg·min) is optimal in the treatment of elderly patients with severe heart failure. It can effectively improve the heart function and hemodynamics, reduce the severity of heart failure, and ameliorate the apoptosis of myocardial cells, with a better prognosis and no significant increase in adverse reactions.