The therapeutic efficacy of the Shenqi Fuzheng injection for treating chronic heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Chronic heart failure(CHF) is a cardiovascular disease which is hard to treat and which threatens public health. It is imperative to seek a new treatment for CHF. The Shenqi Fuzheng compound injection(SQFZI) is often used in China for treating patients with this condition. We used a meta-analysis to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of SQFZI combined with conventional therapy for the treatment of chronic heart failure. Researchers searched the databases for randomized controlled trials(RCTs) of SQFZI combined with conventional therapy for treating CHF. There were no language or regional restrictions. Quality assessment was conducted according to the Cochrane Handbook, and data analysis was carried out using RevMan 5.3 software. Fifteen RCTs were selected, which included 1198 patients. Using meta-analysis, we found that the clinical efficacy of the experimental group(SQFZI combined with conventional therapy) was better than the control group(conventional therapy alone). Additionally,SQFZI combined with conventional therapy improved left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, cardiac output, stroke volume, brain natriuretic peptide, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, and other cardiac indexes. Two trials reported non-serious adverse events, the others reported no adverse events. Based on this meta-analysis, we suggest that SQFZI combined with conventional therapy can effectively improve the efficacy of treatment for CHF patients. However, due to insufficient evidence regarding its safety, more trials of SQFZI for treating CHF are needed.[S Chin J Cardiol 2022;23(3):191-204]