title: Nicardipine infusion improved hepatic function but failed to reduce hepatic venous pressure gradient in patients with cirrhosis.
abstract: We investigated the effects of nicardipine on systemic and splanchnic hemodynamics and on liver function in 16 patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Patients received a continuous infusion of 0.3 mg/min of nicardipine (n = 10) and a control infusion (n = 6). No significant changes were observed after a control infusion. In contrast, systemic vasodilatation, evidenced by a significant fall in mean arterial pressure (-14%, p less than 0.01) and systemic vascular resistance (-30%, p less than 0.01), increased heart rate (+8%, p less than 0.01) and cardiac output (+21%, p less than 0.01), and increased hepatic blood flow (+43%, p less than 0.01) were observed at 60 min after a continuous infusion of nicardipine. Although nicardipine improved hepatic function (intrinsic clearance from 0.29 +/- 0.13 to 0.33 +/- 0.15 L/min, p less than 0.05), portal pressure evaluated by hepatic venous pressure gradient was not reduced significantly (from 16.3 +/- 4.9 to 15.1 +/- 5.7 mm Hg; NS). We conclude that a continuous infusion of nicardipine improves liver function but has no beneficial effect on portal pressure in patients with cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwao
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toyonaga
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ikegami
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sumino
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oho
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakaki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohkubo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009529:Nicardipine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013152:Splanchnic Circulation / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D009529:Nicardipine