Objectives: Pilot studies have suggested the potential benefits of intravenous nicorandil for patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). However, clinical evidence remains limited. The aim of the study was to summarize the efficacy and safety of intravenous nicorandil for the treatment of ADHF.
Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed. The search for relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane's Library, Wanfang, and CNKI databases. A random-effects model was employed to combine the results.
Results: Eight RCTs contributed to the meta-analysis. Pooled results showed that acute treatment with intravenous nicorandil could significantly improve the symptom of dyspnea at 24 h after treatment, as evidenced by the five-point Likert scale for dyspnea after treatment (mean difference [MD]: -0.26, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.40 to -0.13, p < 0.001). Furthermore, nicorandil significantly reduced serum B natriuretic peptide (MD: -30.03 ng/dl, 95% CI: -47.00 to -13.06, p < 0.001), and N-terminal proBNP (MD: -138.69, 95% CI: -248.06 to -29.31, p = 0.01). In addition, nicorandil significantly improved ultrasonic parameters including left ventricular ejection fraction and E/e' at discharge. Moreover, during the follow-up duration of up to 90 days, intravenous nicorandil significantly reduced the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (risk ratio [RR]: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.93, p = 0.03). The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was not significantly different between nicorandil and controls (RR: 1.22, 95% CI: 0.69 to 2.15, p = 0.49).
Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that intravenous nicorandil may be an effective and safe treatment for patients with ADHF.
Keywords: Acute decompensated heart failure; efficacy; meta-analysis; nicorandil; safety.