Is Nesiritide safe?
Low blood pressure; kidney worry not borne out
The main side effect is low blood pressure. It was significantly more common than with placebo in ASCEND-HF. It is the expected result of a drug that widens blood vessels. Headache, nausea and dizziness were reported in earlier trials. The large trial did not bear out the feared effects on kidney function and deaths. The product is discontinued, so there is no current post-marketing surveillance. 1
The large trial did not show extra deaths or kidney injury. This answered the concerns raised in the mid-2000s. What it did show was more low blood pressure and no clear benefit. So the risk-benefit balance was unfavorable, because there was not much benefit to weigh. 1
More on Nesiritide
Citations
- O'Connor 2011, N Engl J Med: effect of nesiritide in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ASCEND-HF) doi.org
Reference information only, not medical advice. Drawn from the Nesiritide article, fact-checked against the cited sources. No dosing anywhere on this site.