OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of Shenmai injection in treating congestive heart failure (CHF). METHODS: 120 cases with CHF were randomly assigned to receive conventional therapy(control group) or conventional therapy plus Shenmai injection(treatment group). The therapeutic efficacy and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: There were significant differences between 2 groups in the total effective rate(86.7% in treatment group vs. 75.0% in control group;P