Thiamine status of elderly patients with cardiac failure including the effects of supplementation.

This study compared the thiamine status of 35 elderly hospital inpatients with cardiac failure (CF) with that of 35 elderly inpatients with other diagnoses (Non-CF). The CF group was then randomly allocated to CF1 group (thiamine treatment, 200 mg per day for 7 days), and CF2 group (non supplemented). The effect of the thiamine treatment on the cardiac failure course was examined. Although there was no significant difference in thiamine status between CF and Non-CF groups, 11.5% of the first group against only 6.0% of the second was deficient with the thiamine pyrophosphate stimulation effect (TPPE) test. The same trend was observed, if NYHA functional assessment was taken into account, thiamine deficiency was more frequent in class 4 than in class 3. No significant difference for thiamin status was observed in patients receiving furosemide treatment and those without furosemide treatment. Although vitamin treatment permitted a significant improvement in thiamine status, the course of the cardiopathy was not significantly different in CF1 (supplemented) and CF2 (non supplemented) groups. Whether systematic thiamine supplementation is indicated in CF patients requires further investigation.