Background: Severe systolic heart failure would be complicated with low cardiac output and high left ventricular filling pressure and the clinical presentations would be low blood pressure, poor peripheral perfusion, and pulmonary edema. Severe systolic heart failure with hemodynamically significant mitral regurgitation brings even more challenged since the obvious elevation of left atrial pressure induces more pulmonary congestion and backward flow of regurgitation in cases with already low cardiac output and poor peripheral perfusion complicates more severe of low cardiac output. Surgical interventions in those cases aren't strongly recommended due to very high operation risk. In the era of lack of nitroprusside in Taiwan (more than 7 years), hydralazine, a direct vasodilator, is a potential substitute for treatment of those cases. The advantages of hydralazine include 1) different dosage forms are available (10 mg, 25 mg, and 50 mg); 2) short half-life makes it reaching steady blood concentration in short period and allow to up- titrate rapidly and also recover fast while adverse reaction occurs; 3) it is much cheaper than other evidence-based medications. In this study, the investigators try to use rapid up-titration of hydralazine to maximal tolerable dose, almost up to 300-400 mg per day, combined with other evidence-based medications in cases with left ventricular ejection fraction less than 35% and mitral regurgitation severity more than moderate degree and assess the prognostic impact. Objective: Four hundred of patients with severe systolic dysfunction and hemodynamically significant mitral regurgitation, who were admitted for intensive care unit for acute decompensated heart failure, will be enrolled and the participants will be divided into two groups according 1 to 1 randomization process. Control group will receive conventional treatment with tolerable maximal dose of evidence-based medications and study group will use hydralazine with rapid up-titration, if no clinical adverse responses were noted, following by or simultaneously using evidence-based medications. The end-points include in- hospital mortality, 3-year all-cause mortality and heart failure rehospitalization. During follow-up period, any adverse response of high-dose hydralazine including lupus-like syndrome and arthritis will be monitored.
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in-hospital mortality
Timeframe: From date of randomization until the date of in-hospital death at indexed hospitalization, assessed up to 2 months
3-year heart failure (HF) rehospitalization
Timeframe: From date of randomization until the date of first rehospitalization for heart failure or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 156 months
3-year all-cause mortality
Timeframe: From date of randomization until the date of date of death from any cause, assessed up to 156 months