Observational studyBritish journal of anaesthesia2016
Beneficial effects of levosimendan on survival in patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation after cardiovascular surgery.
Observational study in British journal of anaesthesia, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 5 of them syntheses 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
32 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical outcomes of levosimendan administration in veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of levosimendan on the outcome of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2024Pooled it
- [Use of extracorporeal circulation (ECLS/ECMO) for cardiac and circulatory failure : Short version of the S3 guideline].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2021Guideline
- [Use of extracorporeal circulation (ECLS/ECMO) for cardiac and circulatory failure : Short version of the S3 guideline].Der Anaesthesist · 2021Guideline
- Levosimendan to Facilitate Weaning From Cardiorespiratory Support in Critically Ill Patients: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Review
- Does Levosimendan hasten veno-arterial ECMO weaning? A propensity score matching analysis.Annals of intensive care · 2025Article
- Review
- Oxygenation management during veno-arterial ECMO support for cardiogenic shock: a multicentric retrospective cohort study.Annals of intensive care · 2024Article
- Proarrhythmic changes in human cardiomyocytes during hypothermia by milrinone and isoprenaline, but not levosimendan: an experimental in vitro study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2023Article
- Levosimendan in patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation after cardiac surgery: an emulated target trial using observational data.Critical care (London, England) · 2023Observational
- Optimizing POCritical care (London, England) · 2022Review
- The ABCDE approach to difficult weaning from venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.Critical care (London, England) · 2022Review
- Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Infarct-Related Cardiogenic Shock.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Review
- Use of extracorporeal circulation (ECLS/ECMO) for cardiac and circulatory failure -A clinical practice Guideline Level 3.ESC heart failure · 2022Article
- Early Levosimendan Administration Improved Weaning Success Rate in Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Patients With Cardiogenic Shock.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Article
- Levosimendan in venoarterial ECMO weaning. Rational and design of a randomized double blind multicentre trial.ESC heart failure · 2021Article
- Extracorporeal Life Support for Cardiac Arrest and Cardiogenic Shock.US cardiology · 2021Review
- Evidence and Current Use of Levosimendan in the Treatment of Heart Failure: Filling the Gap.Drug design, development and therapy · 2021Review
- Can levosimendan reduce ECMO weaning failure in cardiogenic shock?: a cohort study with propensity score analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2020Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe impact of levosimendan treatment on clinical outcome in patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support after cardiovascular surgery is unknown. We hypothesized that the beneficial effects of levosimendan might improve survival when adequate end-organ perfusion is ensured by concomitant ECMO therapy. We therefore studied the impact of levosimendan treatment on survival and failure of ECMO weaning in patients after cardiovascular surgery.
methodsWe enrolled a total of 240 patients undergoing veno-arterial ECMO therapy after cardiovascular surgery at a university-affiliated tertiary care centre into our observational single-centre registry.
resultsDuring a median follow-up period of 37 months (interquartile range 19-67 months), 65% of patients died. Seventy-five per cent of patients received levosimendan treatment within the first 24 h after initiation of ECMO therapy. Cox regression analysis showed an association between levosimendan treatment and successful ECMO weaning [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.41; 95% confience interval (CI) 0.22-0.80; P=0.008], 30 day mortality (adjusted HR 0.52; 95% CI 0.30-0.89; P=0.016), and long-term mortality (adjusted HR 0.64; 95% CI 0.42-0.98; P=0.04).
conclusionsThese data suggest an association between levosimendan treatment and improved short- and long-term survival in patients undergoing ECMO support after cardiovascular surgery.
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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.