Hemodynamic and metabolic effect of propionyl-L-carnitine in patients with heart failure

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is an insidious disease process associated with profound symptoms and a poor long-term prognosis. Today the increasing geriatric population may in part explain the high prevalence, and mortality rate, of the syndrome, despite improved therapeutic strategies in the treatment of hypertension, coronary artery disease, severe arrhythmias and sudden death. According to the Framingham study, five-year mortality for CHF is 60% in men and 45% in women; if we consider patients in NYHA class IV, one year mortality reaches almost 50% [1].