Abstract
Nifedipine, one of the potent slow channel inward current inhibiter of calcium, was administered to patients with various valvular heart diseases, and acute hemodynamic effects on the afterload reduction were compared. Materials consisted of 7 with normal control, 12 with mitral regurgitation, 8 with aortic regurgitation, 9 with mitral stenosis and 6 with aortic stenosis. Patients with significant combined lesion were excluded. Before and 30 minutes after administration of the drug, cardiac output by cuvette dye-dilution technique and radial artetial pressure were recorded. While the significant reductions of arterial pressure and peripheral vascular resistance were observed in each group, it was concluded that afterload reduction therapy was essentially beneficial in cases with regurgitant valvular lesions not with stenotic lesions.
