Journal of cardiac failure
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Rationale and design of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of B-type natriuretic peptide for the preservation of left ventricular function after anterior myocardial infarction.
B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a hormone with pleiotropic cardioprotective properties. Previously in our non-placebo-controlled non-blinded pilot study (BELIEVE) in human ST-segment-elevation anterior acute myocardial infarction (AMI), a 72-hour intravenous (IV) infusion of recombinant human BNP (nesiritide) at a dose of 0.006 μg kg(-1) min(-1) suppressed plasma aldosterone, reduced cardiac dilatation, and improved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF) at 1 month compared with baseline. ⋯ This will be the first randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the clinical efficacy of nesiritide in human ST-segment-elevation anterior AMI.