Abstract
Cardiovascular function of patients with acute and chronic renal failure was determined by means of Swan-Ganz thermodilution catheter. These studies were carried out in the patients under hemodialysis and an comparison was made with the results of cardiac patients. These patients were divided to:
Group 1: Twenty patients with coronary-sclerosis without angina attack (control group)
Group 2: Nine patients with chronic renal failure under longterm hemodialysis
Group 3: Four patients with acute renal failure undertaking hemodialysis
Group 4: Nine patients with symptoms of heart failure due to congestive cardiomyopathy.
As a result, left ventricular function curve, indicating the relationship of left ventricular stroke work index and diastolic pressure of pulmonary artery (PAD) was obtained. Because of the fall in cardiac index (C. I.) and the rise in PAD, Group 4 showed a down-and-rightwards shift of the left ventricular function curve, which implied diminished cardiac pumping function. However, the results in Group 2 and 3 were not different from that of the control (Group 1).
These results indicate that most of patients with acute and chronic renal failure have left ventricular function within normal range. Since PAD and mean right atrial pressure which related to preload and C. I. increased slightly in patients with renal failure, it may be considered that most of symptoms like left-sided heart failure, which are usually seen in patients with renal failure, are pulmonary congestion due to fluid overload.
