The development of new medical treatments for acute decompensated heart failure.

There were almost 1 million hospitalizations for heart failure in 1999, representing a 155% increase over the last 20 years, and the treatment of these patients is an important and growing problem. However, currently available therapies, which are based on three basic mechanisms of action (diuresis, exogenous vasodilators, and cyclic adenosine monophosphate-dependent positive inotropes), have significant limitations that have encouraged the development of newer agents. The leading medications for this indication are representatives of three different therapeutic approaches, which include endogenous vasodilatory neurohormones (nesiritide), calcium sensitizers (levosimendan), and neurohormonal antagonists (tezosentan). These three agents represent a new generation of therapeutics for this important medical problem and may provide the means not only to treat symptoms, but also to improve longer-term clinical outcomes.