Background: We previously reported beneficial effects of pentoxifylline, a xanthine-derived agent known to inhibit the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy treated with diuretics, digoxin, and ACE inhibitors. Since then, 3 large clinical trials showed important clinical benefits of beta-blockers in this population. Therefore, we designed the present study to establish whether in patients with heart failure already receiving treatment with ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers, the addition of pentoxifylline would have an additive beneficial effect.
Methods and results: In a single-center, prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, 39 patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy were randomized to pentoxifylline 400 mg TID (n=20) or placebo (n=19) if they had a left ventricular ejection fraction <40% after 3 months of therapy with digoxin, ACE inhibitors, and carvedilol. Primary end points were New York Heart Association functional class, exercise tolerance, and left ventricular function. Patients were followed up for 6 months. Five patients died (3 in the placebo group). Patients treated with pentoxifylline had a significant improvement in functional class compared with the placebo group (P:=0.01), with an increment in exercise time from 9.5+/-5 to 12.3+/-6 minutes (P:=0.1). Left ventricular ejection fraction improved from 24+/-9% to 31+/-13%, P:=0.03, in the treatment group.
Conclusions: In patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, the addition of pentoxifylline to treatment with digoxin, ACE inhibitors, and carvedilol is associated with a significant improvement in symptoms and left ventricular function.