Nesiritide and CHF

NEW YORK, July 27 (Praxis Press) Intravenous infusion of nesiritide, a brain (B-type) natriuretic peptide, has beneficial hemodynamic effects in patients with decompensated congestive heart failure (CHF). Colucci and colleagues assessed the clinical use of nesiritide in CHF patients to evaluate symptomatic endpoints. Patients hospitalized because of symptomatic CHF were enrolled in either an efficacy trial or a comparative trial. In the efficacy trial, 127 patients were randomly assigned to double-blind treatment with placebo or nesiritide. In the comparative trial, 305 patients were randomly assigned to open-label therapy with standard agents or nesiritide for up to seven days. In the efficacy trial, nesiritide infusion resulted in improved global clinical status, reduced dyspnea, and reduced fatigue compared with placebo. In the comparative trial, the improvements in global clinical status, dyspnea, and fatigue were sustained with nesiritide therapy for up to seven days and were similar to those observed with standard intravenous ...