Do Vasodilators Prolong Life in Heart Failure?

Over the past decade, vasodilator therapy has become an accepted way to treat the symptoms of patients with congestive heart failure. By antagonizing the systemic vasoconstriction that limits cardiac performance, vasodilator drugs alter the loading conditions in the failing left ventricle and can thereby produce immediate and long-term hemodynamic and clinical improvement.¹ Yet, despite these symptomatic benefits, the prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure remains extremely poor. The annual mortality rate ranges from 15 to 60 percent, depending on the severity of the underlying disease. Nearly 200,000 patients die of heart failure in the United States each year. Do…