Norepinephrine versus dopamine pretreatment of potential heart donors – impact on long-term outcome

Neither norepinephrine nor dopamine pre-treatment of potential heart donors showed superior overall survival. In a sub-population of long-term survivors norepinephrine pre-treatment was associated with better survival in a rather small cohort of heart transplant recipients. These findings underscore the urgent need of further prospective multicenter randomized trials to recommend a preferable adrenergic therapy.