Pharmacological trials including patients with more severe heart failure were more likely to show a significant improvement with therapy than trials of milder heart failure .
Using mean values in these trials , the age of patients appeared a more important determinant of 6MWT distance than New York Heart Association classification .
The 6MWT has not yet been proven to be a robust test for the identification of effective pharmacological interventions although it appears useful for the assessment of cardiac resynchronization therapy .
The results of the 6MWT were concordant with changes in symptoms , suggesting that it may be used as supportive evidence for symptom benefit .
AIMS The 6 min walk test ( 6MWT ) is commonly used in clinical trials to assess treatments for heart failure , but its ability to distinguish between effective and ineffective treatments is question able .
The aim of this study is to investigate , using a systematic literature review , the utility of the 6MWT as a measure of the effectiveness of treatment in r and omized controlled trials of heart failure .
Comparative effects of long-term therapy with captopril and ibopamine in chronic congestive heart failure in old patients.
Little is known concerning the long-term drug management of  chronic heart failure ( CHF ) in old patients ( greater than or equal to 75 years ) . Accordingly , this double-blind , placebo-controlled trial compared the long-term ( over 6 months ) effect of captopril ( 37.5 - 75 mg/day ) and of ibopamine ( 150 - 300 mg/day ) on exercise testing , symptoms and subjective feeling of well-being , in 150 CHF elderly patients ( mean age 75 years ) under treatment with digitalis and /or diuretics . During an additional open follow-up of approximately 1.5 years , morbid events and deaths were also recorded . Captopril and ibopamine performed better ( p less than 0.01 ) than placebo , improving the 6-min walking distance  ( captopril from 300 to 404 m , ibopamine from 282 to 385 m ; placebo from 283 to 299 m ) . NYHA status , symptom score and patients ' global assessment . The difference between the active study drugs was not statistically significant ( p greater than 0.05 ) . Complicating events , including diuretic use , frequency of hospitalization , worsening of CHF and deaths , were grouped by patient-years . These events were significantly ( p less than 0.01 ) lower ( captopril : 28/75 patient-years ; ibopamine 33/74 patient-years ) in the active treatment groups with respect to placebo ( 58/96 patient-years ) . Captopril and ibopamine showed a different safety profile . Creatinine increase ( 2 patients ) , symptomatic hypotension ( 4 patients ) , hyperkalemia ( 2 patients ) and upper respiratory symptoms were mostly associated with captopril treatment . Gastrointestinal adverse events were observed in 11 patients under ibopamine treatment . The study provides evidence of the clinical usefulness of both captopril or ibopamine in the long-term treatment of CHF in old patients . The safety profile of each drug will suggest the preferred therapeutic application
Pharmacological trials including patients with more severe heart failure were more likely to show a significant improvement with therapy than trials of milder heart failure .
Using mean values in these trials , the age of patients appeared a more important determinant of 6MWT distance than New York Heart Association classification .
The 6MWT has not yet been proven to be a robust test for the identification of effective pharmacological interventions although it appears useful for the assessment of cardiac resynchronization therapy .
The results of the 6MWT were concordant with changes in symptoms , suggesting that it may be used as supportive evidence for symptom benefit .
AIMS The 6 min walk test ( 6MWT ) is commonly used in clinical trials to assess treatments for heart failure , but its ability to distinguish between effective and ineffective treatments is question able .
The aim of this study is to investigate , using a systematic literature review , the utility of the 6MWT as a measure of the effectiveness of treatment in r and omized controlled trials of heart failure .