SynthesisIntensive care medicine2012
Dobutamine for patients with severe heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
Synthesis in Intensive care medicine, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 158 citations in OpenAlex.
- Inotropic agents and vasodilator strategies for the treatment of cardiogenic shock or low cardiac output syndrome.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- The possible impact of levosimendan infusions on clinical course of heart failure: the results of the LEIA-HF study.ESC heart failure · 2026Trial
- Haemodynamic effects of levosimendan in advanced but stable chronic heart failure.ESC heart failure · 2018Trial
- Impact of early haemodynamic goal-directed therapy in patients undergoing emergency surgery: an open prospective, randomised trial.Journal of clinical monitoring and computing · 2016Trial
- Short-term add-on therapy with angiotensin receptor blocker for end-stage inotrope-dependent heart failure patients: B-type natriuretic peptide reduction in a randomized clinical trial.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2014Trial
- Anesthetic management of a patient with malignant right ventricular tumor and pulmonary tumor embolism secondary to cervical cancer: a case report.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2026Article
- Low-dose levosimendan infusions in advanced heart failure: efficacy, safety, and factors associated with outcomes.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Article
- Dobutamine administration: a proposal for a standardized approach.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2025Article
- Repurposing of an inotropic drug dobutamine to enhance the production of human hematopoietic stem cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Article
- Acute Kidney Injury During Sepsis and Prognostic Role of Coexistent Chronic Heart Failure.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Sepsis-induced cardiogenic shock: controversies and evidence gaps in diagnosis and management.Journal of intensive care · 2025Review
- The Effects of Dobutamine in Septic Shock: An Updated Narrative Review of Clinical and Experimental Studies.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Review
- Cardiac Injury After Traumatic Brain Injury: Clinical Consequences and Management.Neurocritical care · 2024Article
- Istaroxime for Patients with Acute Heart Failure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Differentiating Cardiac Troponin Levels During Cardiac Myosin Inhibition or Cardiac Myosin Activation Treatments: Drug Effect or the Canary in the Coal Mine?Current heart failure reports · 2023Review
- Discovery of a novel cardiac-specific myosin modulator using artificial intelligence-based virtual screening.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Perioperative Right Ventricular Dysfunction and Abnormalities of the Tricuspid Valve Apparatus in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Precision fluid and vasoactive drug therapy for critically ill patients.Pharmacotherapy · 2023Review
- Targeting Troponin C with Small Molecules Containing Diphenyl Moieties: Calcium Sensitivity Effects on Striated Muscles and Structure-Activity Relationship.Journal of chemical information and modeling · 2023Article
- Discovery of novel cardiac troponin activators using fluorescence polarization-based high throughput screening assays.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeDobutamine is recommended for patients with severe heart failure; however uncertainty exists as to its effect on mortality. This study aims to critically review the literature to evaluate whether dobutamine, compared with placebo or standard care, is associated with lower mortality and a range of secondary outcomes, in patients with severe heart failure.
methodsA systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials was performed. PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Trials Registry, the metaRegister of Controlled Trials and bibliographies of retrieved articles were searched. Randomised trials comparing dobutamine with placebo or standard care, in human, adult patients with severe heart failure, were included if they reported at least one outcome of interest. Data regarding trial validity, methodological processes and clinical outcomes were extracted, and a meta-analysis was performed.
resultsFourteen studies, with 673 participants, met the inclusion criteria and were included; 13 studies reported mortality. There was minimal heterogeneity (I(2) = 4.5%). The estimate of the odds ratio for mortality for patients with severe heart failure treated with dobutamine compared with standard care or placebo was 1.47 (95% confidence interval 0.98-2.21, p = 0.06).
conclusionsThis meta-analysis showed that dobutamine is not associated with improved mortality in patients with heart failure, and there is a suggestion of increased mortality associated with its use, although this did not reach the conventional level of statistical significance. Further research to define the role of dobutamine in treatment of severe heart failure should be a priority.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.