How to use nesiritide in treating decompensated heart failure.

Nesiritide (Natrecor), a synthetic formulation of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), is the first new parenteral agent to be approved for treating heart failure in more than a decade. In patients hospitalized with decompensated congestive heart failure, nesiritide promptly reduces pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, pulmonary arterial pressure, right atrial pressure, and systemic vascular resistance, resulting in clinical improvement.