title: The response to varying concentrations of inhaled nitric oxide in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.
abstract: We investigated the response to varying concentrations of inhaled nitric oxide (NO) in 18 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The study was divided into two parts. In Part 1, 5-40 ppm of inhaled NO was evaluated in 10 patients with ARDS. In Part 2, 0.1-10 ppm of inhaled NO was evaluated in eight patients with ARDS. Inhaled NO significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) and pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI), and increased the arterial oxygenation (PaO2) at concentrations of 0.1 to 40 ppm. No dose response was detectable for the pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) or PVRI over this dose range. The increase in PaO2 at 10 ppm of NO was significantly greater than that at 0.1 ppm but not 1 ppm. The decrease in PVRI and the increase in PaO2 were both significantly correlated with the baseline PVRI. While the maximum hemodynamic and oxygenation responses to inhaled NO are achieved at approximately 1 ppm, it appears that the maximum hemodynamic response is observed at lower concentrations (0.1 ppm) of inhaled NO than the improvement in oxygenation (1-10 ppm). Higher concentrations of NO do not produce any further change in these variables. It appears that the baseline PVRI may be the best marker predicting a beneficial response to NO.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA 22098, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lowson
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Rich
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: McArdle
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jaidev
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D002496:Central Venous Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000187:drug effects; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000187:drug effects; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014655:Vascular Resistance / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D010100:Oxygen