title: Physiologic assessment of milrinone therapy in severe heart failure patients.
abstract: To assess the inotropic, vasodilator, and after-load-reducing effects of intravenous milrinone in patients with severe congestive heart failure, a simple noninvasive echocardiographic study coupled with a right catheterization was performed in 12 patients. Milrinone was administered intravenously as a 50 micrograms.kg-1 bolus followed by a 24-h milrinone infusion at a rate of 0.5 mg.kg-1.min-1 [corrected]. Echocardiographic left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (Ded), end-systolic diameter (Des), and wall thickness were measured at baseline and at 24 h of milrinone infusion, before and after a sublingual nitrate administration (0.8 mg of nitroglycerin) that induced load variations. Hemodynamic measurements were performed simultaneously. Left ventricular end-systolic meridional wall stress (Ses) was then calculated. The slopes of percent fractional shortening (percent FS)/Ses and Ses/Des, obtained during sublingual nitrate administration, were traced. Both end-systolic relations are an index of the contractile state. Milrinone therapy improved hemodynamics in all patients, resulting in stabilized hemodynamic conditions between 12 and 24 h of continuous milrinone infusion. At these times, the cardiac index increased to 30% while the capillary pulmonary wedge pressure and systemic vascular resistance decreased to 26 and 24%, respectively (all p less than 0.01). The average slope of Ses/Des shifted upward from 47.5 +/- 30 to 69.25 +/- 34 (p less than 0.05) and the average slope of (percent FS)/Ses shifted from -0.032 +/- 0.025 to -0.082 +/- 0.061 (p less than 0.01), both variations attesting the inotropic effect of milrinone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Département de Cardiologie, Hopital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Dubois-Randé
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Duval-Moulin
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Saal
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Merlet
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lellouche
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deleuze
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dupouy
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brun
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Loisance
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castaigne
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002404:Catheterization; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020105:Milrinone; D011728:Pyridones / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D011728:Pyridones; D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D020105:Milrinone