Thoracic Epidural Anesthesia Reduces Mortality and Rehospitalization for Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction

Thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA), the infusion of anesthetic agents (eg, lidocaine or ropivacaine) into the epidural space, is used to achieve sympathetic block at the T1 to T4 levels in thoracic and abdominal surgical procedures. Since 1995, Professor Liu Fengqi has pioneered the use of TEA to treat end-stage HFrEF and achieved surprising results. TEA could reduce the enlarged heart cavity, halt and reverse cardiac remodeling, and improve cardiac systolic and diastolic function. Currently, thousands of HFrEF patients have received TEA procedure. All the patients received maximally tolerated guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT).

All the patients received maximally tolerated guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) alone.