12 August 2025 : Original article
Early Atropine Protocol Enhances Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography in End-Stage Liver Disease: A Practical Cardiac Risk Stratification Tool Before Liver Transplantation
Özge Çetinarslan ABCDEF 1*, Sinan Efe Yazıcı ABC 2, Ahmet Atasever
ABC 2
DOI: 10.12659/AOT.950166
Ann Transplant 2025; 30:e950166
Table 1 Baseline characteristics of study groups.
| Parameters | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (mean±SD) | 56.67±10.29 | 58.00±8.50 | 58.61±10.90 | 0.792 |
| Female (n-%) | 12 (50.00%) | 9 (40.9%) | 7 (30.4%) | 0.393 |
| DM (n-%) | 4 (16.7%) | 4 (18.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.103 |
| HT (n-%) | 7 (29.2%) | 4 (18.2%) | 7 (30.4%) | 0.590 |
| Beta-blocker (n-%) | 13 (54.2%) | 11 (50.0%) | 17 (73.9%) | 0.214 |
| Serum hemoglobin (mg/dL) (mean±SD) | 10.48±1.50 | 10.74±1.84 | 10.61±1.74 | 0.881 |
| MELD score (mean±SD) | 7.04±0.86 | 7.00±0.82 | 7.09±0.79 | 0.939 |
| Group 1: dobutamine only; Group 2: 40 μg/kg/min dobutamine+atropine; Group 3: 30 μg/kg/min dobutamine+atropine. SD – standard deviation; DM – diabetes mellitus; HT – hypertension. | ||||