A brief review of septic cardiomyopathy and possible preventive strategies

Abstract

Sepsis induced cardiomyopathy leads to significant morbidity and mortality if not identified early and treated judiciously. A lot is written and discussed about it but till date, the syndrome remains a dilemma. Clinicians have used various modalities like beta- blockers to reduce heart rate , polymyxin B hemofiltration  to neutralize the endotoxinemia thereby  interfering with the progression of myocardial dysfunction, statins for its anti – inflammatory, antithrombotic and antioxidative properties thereby causing myocardial protection  in the same way as it does in coronary artery  disease. Ivabradine is a novel drug which is the first If current inhibitor that causes selective heart rate reduction without  any antihypertensive effect like beta blockers and doesn’t  affect hemodynamics. Its still in the trial stage. At present the only effective measure seems to be  intensive fluid therapy, aggressive source control and  use of broad spectrum antibiotics and maintenance of optimum hemodynamics with vasoactive agents.

Key words: Sepsis; Beta- adrenergic blockers; Polymyxin B; Ivabradine; Statins.

Citation: Nair AS, Nair D. A brief review of septic cardiomyopathy and possible preventive strategies. Anaesth Pain & Intensive Care 2014;18(1):112-115