A novel method for selective delivery of drugs to the pulmonary arteries.
Drug treatment of pulmonary hypertension may be limited by systemic hypotension. Selective action of a vasodilator drug in pulmonary arteries could be achieved by administering a vasodilator gas into systemic venous blood so that it dilates pulmonary arteries before immediate first-pass elimination via exhalation. This article presents in vivo data to show that a pharmacologically active gas can be delivered safely into systemic venous blood where it has a distribution pattern and physiologic effects similar to those observed when the gas is inhaled into pulmonary venous (systemic arterial) blood. This is a first step toward development of first-pass pulmonary clearance as a mechanism to concentrate drugs in pulmonary arteries.
Yeager
Mark P
MP
Department of Anesthesiology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA. mark.p.yeager@hitchcock.org
Clark
Jeffrey A
JA
Yeager
Scott B
SB
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006221:Halothane / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000378:metabolism*
D006221:Halothane