Heart failure (HF) is a prevalent disease reaching 1-2% of adult population in developed countries, and 10% in patients over 70 years. In the past HF patients had a 5-year mortality rate of 60-70% of HF with high rate of hospitalization and disability leading to a HF epidemic. Treatment improvements in the past decades have significantly reduced hospitalization and mortality. However, there is an increasing subset of patients (>10%) with advanced HF symptoms (functional class III/IV) for whom current management strategies are limited and do not provide a significant improvement in morbidity, mortality and quality of life.

Specialized HF clinics, implementing a comprehensive therapeutic approach, were suggested to be beneficial in this population. However, the design of these clinics is variable with different methods of follow-up, therapy and supervision. Intermittent infusions of dobutamine were previously inconclusive regarding symptom alleviation and hemodynamic improvement and raised a concern of increased mortality in HF patients. Furthermore, the evidence scope is narrow since most trials including inconsistent and relatively high dobutamine dosages. Accordingly, current guidelines do not provide specific recommendations for dobutamine therapy in stable HF patients, and indication for treatment are limited for acute HF with hypotension and signs of hypoperfusion, or alleviation of symptoms in severely symptomatic patients in stage D HF.

The primary aim of the proposed study is to evaluate the impact of intermittent low-dose dobutamine infusion on clinical and hemodynamic parameters in advanced HF patients treated in a tertiary heart failure clinic in the setting of a randomized clinical trial. We hypothesize that intermittent therapy with low-dose dobutamine will be associated with improved functional capacity and quality of life among patients with advanced heart failure, thereby providing evidence for beneficial effects of a potentially important therapeutic regimen in this high risk population.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age over 18
• Symptomatic HF with NYHA III-IV
• Left ventricular ejection fraction < 30%
• Maximal tolerated dosage of Angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) or Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI), aldosterone antagonists and β-Blockers according to blood pressure, heart rate, renal function and potassium levels
• Prior implementation of resynchronization therapy and implantable defibrillator as indicated??
• Prior HF hospitalization in the past 12 months
• Unsatisfactory response to intravenous diuretics during hospitalization or ambulatory care.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Active ischemia
• Acute coronary syndrome or cardiac surgery within 3 months
• Hemodynamic and respiratory instability, with systolic blood pressure below 85mmHg, and oxygen saturation below 90% at rest
• Uncontrolled hypertension >180/110 mmHg
• Contra-indication to dobutamine therapy
• Hemodialysis therapy
• Malignant ventricular arrythmias
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Sepsis or ongoing systemic infection
• Active myocarditis
• Severe valvular stenosis
• Non-compliance
• Life-threatening extra-cardiac disease or malignancy with a life expectancy below 1 year
• Inability to sign an informed consent
• Participation in another trial during the previous 6 months