Ibopamine in the treatment of heart failure.

Efficacy and safety of a drug are essential criteria to be fulfilled before a new drug receives recommendation. This review focuses on the safety of ibopamine in the treatment of chronic heart failure. Ibopamine is a new, orally active drug with a predominant action on dopaminergic adrenoceptors. As a result, it reduces systemic vascular resistance, increases cardiac output, and increases renal flow. Ibopamine also modulates the neuroendocrine reflexes in heart failure; plasma renin activity and norepinephrine and aldosterone plasma concentrations are reduced, both immediately and during sustained administration. Ibopamine has proved to be safe in many thousands of heart failure patients during long-term therapy. This argues well for its use as an alternative or additive therapy in the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure.