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Biomedical subjects

E Braunwald

Publications and source records attributed to E Braunwald.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Evaluation of a new bipyridine inotropic agent--milrinone--in patients with severe congestive heart failure.

Milrinone, a derivative of amrinone, has nearly 20 times the inotropic potency of the parent compound and does not cause fever or thrombocytopenia in normal volunteers or in animals sensitive to amrinone. In 20 patients with severe congestive heart failure, intravenous milrinone resulted in significant decreases in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (from 27 +/- 2 to 18 +/- 2 mm Hg), pulmonary wedge pressure, right atrial pressure, and systemic vascular resistance, as well as a slight reduction in mean arterial pressure. Significant increases occurred in cardiac index (from 1.9 +/- 0.1 to 2.9 +/- 0.2 liters per minute per square meter) and the peak positive first derivative of left ventricular pressure, with a slight increase in heart rate. Hemodynamic improvement was sustained during a 24-hour continuous infusion. Nineteen of the 20 patients subsequently received oral milrinone (29 +/- 2 mg per day) for up to 11 months (mean, 6.0 +/- 0.8), with sustained improvement in symptoms of heart failure. In 10 patients receiving long-term oral milrinone (greater than or equal to 6 months) radionuclide ventriculography showed continued responsiveness, with a 27 per cent increase in left ventricular ejection fraction after 7.5 mg of the drug. Four patients died after a mean of 4.8 months of therapy, and three patients with severe underlying coronary-artery disease and angina pectoris required additional antianginal therapy. No patient had fever, thrombocytopenia, gastrointestinal intolerance, or aggravation of ventricular ectopy. We conclude that milrinone shows promise for the longterm treatment of congestive heart failure.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1983

The use of beta-blockers after myocardial infarction.

Several beta-blockers have now been shown to be effective in reducing total mortality during the extended recovery period after myocardial infarction. The rate of occurrence of reinfarction and sudden death is also reduced. While the exact mechanisms of this beneficial effect are unknown, it appears to result from a "class" effect, ie, secondary to beta-blockade, since neither cardioselectivity, intrinsic sympathomimetic activity, nor membrane-stabilizing activity appears to be requisite. The reduction in mortality is seen in all age groups, for all types of infarction, and in all risk groups. On the basis of presently available evidence, in patients without contraindication to beta-blockade, prophylactic treatment with beta-blockers should be initiated between one and four weeks after myocardial infarction. The dosage should be sufficient to blunt the heart rate response to exercise, and therapy should be continued for at least two years. The positive results of several well-designed and conducted studies have proved that the concept of secondary prevention is a valid one and should help to save thousands of lives in the coming decade. It is expected that ongoing investigations will determine the efficacy and safety of earlier institution of beta-blockade, including IV administration in the peri-infarction period. The effectiveness of secondary prevention with other agents, including calcium channel blockers, antiplatelet agents, anticoagulants, lipid-lowering drugs, antiarrhythmics, prostacyclin analogues, and thromboxane synthetase inhibitors, should be investigated further. Additional information is needed on the mechanisms by which beta-blockers reduce mortality, sudden death, and reinfarction, on whether specific beta-blockers and/or specific types of beta-blockers have the greatest benefit, and, as a result of further analysis from some of the studies already published, the effect of beta-blockade after myocardial infarction on angina, rhythm disturbances, lipid profile abnormalities, and the quality of life.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1983

Enzymatic estimation of myocardial infarct size when early creatine kinase values are not available.

Estimates of myocardial infarct (MI) size based on plasma creatine kinase (CK) are used widely for prognosis and in the assessment of therapy designed to salvage ischemic myocardium. However, if the initial plasma CK activity is elevated, MI size will be underestimated. To determine the impact of loss of early CK values on estimates of MI size and to develop a procedure to compensate for it, estimates of MI size based on complete and incomplete MB and total CK time-activity curves from 120 patients (experimental group) were compared. Estimates of MI size based on data inclusion intervals beginning at 24, 12, 8, and 4 hours before peak CK were 11, 14, 23, and 47% smaller than values based on complete CK curves, but the correlation was good between complete and incomplete estimates of MI size at any given interval, with r values ranging from 0.91 to 0.98. The derived correction factors were then prospectively applied to a new population (n = 25) with complete CK curves to compensate for purposely omitted early CK values. The corrected estimates of MI size were within 7% of those based on the complete CK curves. Similar results were obtained for transmural and nontransmural and anterior or inferior MI. Thus, if peak plasma CK is known, underestimation of MI size can be compensated for despite the unavailability of early CK values. Since greater than 90% of patients present before plasma CK has reached its peak (24 hours), MI size can be obtained in nearly all patients. Thus, being able to correct for unavailable early CK values makes MI size a more widely applicable endpoint for use in clinical trials and patient management.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Topographic changes in the left ventricle after experimentally induced myocardial infarction in the rat.

The factors that determine the thickness of transmural myocardial infarcts are unknown. Therefore, the relation between the size and thickness of transmural infarcts in 67 rats 21 days after occlusion of the left main coronary artery was studied. On examination of histologic sections, infarct size was determined by planimetry and expressed as a percentage of the left ventricular (LV) area, and thickness was expressed as a percentage of noninfarcted ventricular septal wall thickness. The circumferential length of the infarcted ventricle was measured in millimeters, as well as the circumferential length of the noninfarcted ventricular septum. Septal wall thickness was similar in rats with transmural infarcts and in sham-operated rats. No significant correlation was observed between infarct size and thickness (r = 0.10) or between circumferential length of the infarct and infarct thickness (r = 0.17). However, large (greater than or equal to 20% of the left ventricle, n = 37) and small (less than 20% of the left ventricle, n = 30) infarcts which were similarly thin (37 +/- 1% and 34 +/- 2% of septal wall thickness, respectively) affected LV topography differently. Large infarcts resulted in a 23% greater loss of myocardium (p less than 0.001), greater expansion of the LV cavity (18 +/- 9 mm2 compared with 14 +/- 1 mm2 in small infarcts, p less than 0.005), and lengthening of the septal wall (7.2 +/- 1.1 mm and 6.7 +/- 1.0 mm in large and small infarcts, respectively [p less than 0.05], and 6.3 +/- 0.1 mm in shams). Increase in cavity area and septal length in infarcted ventricles suggested a volume overload hypertrophy, which at 3 weeks was nonetheless inadequate to provide as much normal muscle as was present in sham-operated rats. In an additional 9 rats with subendocardial infarctions (involving less than 75% of the LV wall from endocardium to epicardium), the LV walls were thicker (94 +/- 5% of septal wall thickness, compared with 35 +/- 1% for transmural infarcts, p less than 0.001) and an inverse correlation was observed between infarct size and thickness. In conclusion, neither the size of a transmural infarct in rat nor the circumferential length of infarction determines the thickness of the infarct; however, infarct size does affect LV topography by increasing LV cavity area and the length of the noninfarcted septal wall. Subendocardial infarcts result in less myocardial thinning than do transmural infarcts.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Scar thinning due to ibuprofen administration after experimental myocardial infarction.

Although much attention has been directed toward interventions which reduce myocardial infarct size, the effect of such agents on the healing phase of myocardial infarction is not well understood. The present study examines the effect of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent ibuprofen, previously demonstrated to be able to reduce infarct size, and of aspirin on the healing of experimentally produced myocardial infarcts. Thirty-nine anesthetized, open-chest dogs were subjected to proximal left anterior descending coronary artery occlusions for 6 weeks. Four groups of dogs were studied: (1) a control (untreated) group: (2) ibuprofen, 12.5 mg/kg intravenously 15 minutes and 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours after occlusion (high dose); (3) ibuprofen, 12.5 mg/kg intravenously 15 minutes and 3 hours after occlusion (low dose); (4) aspirin, 30 mg/kg intravenously 15 minutes and 3 hours after occlusion. The average thickness of the transmural scar and of the noninfarcted left ventricular wall was determined from multiple measurements of formalin-fixed left ventricular slices. The ratio of transmural scar to noninfarcted wall thickness was determined. In control animals the ratio was 0.87 with only 1 of 15 animals having a ratio less than 0.60. High-dose ibuprofen-treated animals had an average ratio of 0.59 (difference not significant [NS] compared with control values), with 6 of 9 animals having a ratio less than 0.60 (p less than 0.02 compared with control values). Low-dose ibuprofen-treated animals had an average ratio of 0.66 (p less than 0.05 compared with control values), with 4 of 8 animals having a ratio less than 0.60 (p = NS compared with control values). In the aspirin-treated animals, the ratio was 0.88 (p = NS compared with control values), with 0 of 7 animals having a ratio less than 0.60 (p = NS compared with control values). Although 1 of 22 animals had ratios less than 0.60 in the control and aspirin groups, 10 of 17 had ratios less than 0.60 in the ibuprofen-treated groups (p less than 0.001). Scars in treated animals did not differ from those in control animals histologically or by analysis of hydroxyproline content per unit weight. Thus, ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent which reduces infarct size, is shown to increase the incidence of scar thinning after myocardial infarction.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Role of beta-adrenergic blockade in the therapy of patients with myocardial infarction.

Beta-adrenergic blockade appears to have beneficial effects on ischemic myocardium, both in experimental animals and in patients. There is substantial evidence that beta blockade, when induced promptly after coronary occlusion, is capable of limiting the size of experimentally produced infarcts. Although many mechanisms of action have been proposed, the bulk of available evidence suggests that beta blockade reduces the severity of myocardial ischemia by reducing myocardial oxygen demands. Intravenous and oral therapy with beta-blockers is safe when patients are carefully selected and observed. Invasive hemodynamic monitoring is not usually necessary for safe use of these drugs. Preliminary reports based on studies with several beta-blockers indicate that early intervention might limit infarct size or even prevent its occurrence, particularly in patients with evidence of increased sympathetic activity. However, before early beta blockade can be recommended as standard therapy for uncomplicated myocardial infarction, these findings should be confirmed in rigorously controlled clinical trials utilizing several techniques for assessment of infarct size. The most significant finding with beta-blockers in patients with myocardial infarction has been that these drugs can improve survival when administered to patients on a long-term basis after infarction. Although the mechanism of this protective effect is not yet understood, the results are clear enough to warrant the routine administration of a beta-blocker to patients who have had infarction and who have no contraindications to such therapy.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
PubMed1983

A flow- and time-dependent index of ischemic injury after experimental coronary occlusion and reperfusion.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether an ischemic index--expressed as the product of flow deprivation (FD) and the duration of occlusion (T), FD X T--correlated with biochemical and early morphologic alterations of the subendocardial myocardium and could predict ultimate development of irreversible injury after coronary reperfusion. Myocardial biopsy specimens for measurement of ATP and other purines and for ultrastructure studies were obtained in vivo during coronary occlusion in a canine model and were considered relative to development of necrosis after coronary reperfusion. FD X T correlated negatively with ATP content [ATP, nmol/mg of cardiac protein = 23.6 - 0.24(FD X T) + 0.0007(FD X T)2; r = -0.81] and with a semiquantitative early histologic index of damage (r = 0.70). Values of (FD X T) less than 18 were associated with reversible injury--i.e., complete salvage after coronary reperfusion. (FD X T) greater than 18 was associated with varying degrees of necrosis; necrosis was severe (78 +/- 12% of subendocardial biopsy specimens) when ATP less than 10 nmol/mg of protein and total purine pool was decreased by 50%. FD X T correlated with the eventual percentage of subendocardial necrosis (r = 0.85). Accordingly, as an index of ischemic injury, FD X T may be useful in assessing whether ischemic myocardial tissue will benefit from early restoration of blood flow to the ischemic area.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Prevention of the development of heart failure and the regression of cardiac hypertrophy by captopril in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) exhibits both a compensated phase of cardiac hypertrophy in which forward output is maintained despite persistently elevated systemic arterial pressures and a decompensated phase in which cardiac performance has deteriorated in spite of further hypertrophic growth. To determine whether chronic antihypertensive therapy prevents the development of heart failure and the progression of cardiac hypertrophy in SHR with advanced hypertension, captopril (2 g/l of drinking water), a converting enzyme inhibitor, was administered to 14 month old female SHR and normotensive American Wistar rats (NWR) for 10 months. The severe left ventricular hypertrophy of the 24 month old untreated SHR (4.37 +/- 0.2 mg/g v. 2.50 +/- 0.06 mg/g, untreated NWR) was markedly reduced (P less than 0.02) by captopril (3.01 +/- 0.1 mg/g). Chronic therapy prevented the reduction of both baseline and maximal cardiac indices in SHR, but did not alter blood flow in NWR. Left ventricular dilatation was present in 24 month old SHR and, as peak stroke volume index was diminished, the ejection fraction index of the SHR was reduced. Captopril restored this index in SHR to normal. The relation of ejection fraction index and afterload (peak systolic wall stress) was depressed in untreated SHR, but was normal in treated SHR. Thus, chronic therapy with captopril prevented the development of severe cardiac dysfunction and produced a marked regression of cardiac hypertrophy in SHR with advanced hypertensive heart disease.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

Special notice.

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Retraction Notice↗
PubMed1983

Systemic hemodynamic effects of leukotrienes C4 and D4 in the rat.

Although local administration of the sulfidopeptide leukotrienes into cutaneous and coronary vascular beds indicates that these naturally occurring metabolites of arachidonic acid are vasoconstrictors, their systemic administration has produced both pressor and depressor responses. The systemic hemodynamic effects of intravenous leukotriene C4 (LTC4) and leukotriene D4 (LTD4) were assessed in ether-anesthetized rats and compared with the effects produced by equimolar doses (2 X 10(-10) to 4 X 10(-8) mol/kg) of norepinephrine and angiotensin. Mean arterial pressure, right atrial pressure, and cardiac output (electromagnetic flowmetry) were recorded during bolus administrations of these vasoactive compounds. LTC4 and LTD4 had similar hemodynamic effects that were characterized by moderate pressure elevations produced by dose-dependent increases in total peripheral resistance, since cardiac output declined. Although the peak mean arterial pressure levels produced by LTC4 and LTD4 (135 +/- 7 and 129 +/- 5 mmHg, respectively) were less than those by norepinephrine (157 +/- 3 mmHg) and angiotensin (174 +/- 5 mmHg), the peak total peripheral resistance values of LTC4 and LTD4 (2.23 +/- 0.32 and 1.86 +/- 0.17 mmHg X ml-1 X min-1, respectively) were between those of the well-known vasopressors, norepinephrine (1.50 +/- 0.09) and angiotensin (2.72 +/- 0.41). The pressor response to LTC4 and LTD4 was less marked than that to norepinephrine and to angiotensin because of the concomitant reduction in cardiac output. These results indicate that LTC4 and LTD4 are systemic vasoconstrictors with potencies similar to those of norepinephrine and angiotensin.

Angiotensins↗
PubMed1983

Cardiorenal hemodynamics and sodium excretion in rats with myocardial infarction.

The relation between left ventricular function and renal excretion of sodium (Na+) was studied in rats with myocardial infarction (MI) and varying degrees of left ventricular dysfunction. Three groups of rats were defined: 1) control sustained no infarct, 2) small to moderate infarcts involved 10-40% of the left ventricular circumference, and 3) large infarcts involved greater than 40%. In conscious rats, Na+ excretion was measured after administration of saline load by gavage. Four hours after the load, rats with large MI excreted less than one half the amount of Na+ excreted by control rats, whereas rats with small to moderate MI excreted an intermediate amount. In a second group of anesthetized rats, Na+ excretion, renal hemodynamics, and ventricular performance were determined before and after acute intravenous volume expansion with a balanced salt solution. Rats with small to moderate MI demonstrated minimal impairment in ventricular pumping ability but excreted less Na+ after volume expansion than did control rats. However, rats with large MI demonstrated marked impairment in left ventricular performance and exhibited the least natriuretic response to volume loading. Glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow failed to increase with volume expansion in both groups of rats with MI. Thus Na+ excretion in response to acute volume loading was diminished in rats with large MI and markedly impaired cardiac performance but was also reduced in rats with small to moderate MI and minimal changes in ventricular pumping capacity.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Coronary reperfusion for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction: postischemic ventricular dysfunction.

There has been recent interest in treating acute myocardial infarction with coronary reperfusion by fibrinolytic therapy. Experimental studies have shown that myocardial infarct size can be reduced by coronary reperfusion. However, return of cardiac function, high energy phosphate metabolism, and cardiac ultrastructure may be delayed within tissue which is salvaged by coronary reperfusion. This postischemic ventricular dysfunction is transient and has been termed the 'stunned myocardium' phenomenon. Although reperfused infarcts are hemorrhagic, the hemorrhage is confined well within tissue which is already necrotic and does not appear to exacerbate the extent of necrosis. Clinical trials designed to assess the benefits of reperfusion for the therapy of acute myocardial infarction should concentrate on long-term rather than short-term changes in cardiac function.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Cardiovascular reflexes stimulated by reperfusion of ischemic myocardium in acute myocardial infarction.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI), especially of the inferior left ventricular wall, where most cardiac receptors with vagal afferents that are stimulated during coronary occlusion are located, is commonly associated with reflex hypotension and sinus bradycardia. To determine whether reperfusion of an acutely ischemic area can activate cardiac reflexes, changes in the heart rate, arterial pressure and rhythm were correlated with the time course and location of intracoronary thrombolytic therapy in 41 patients with AMI. Of the 27 patients with successful reperfusion, 17 developed significant transient bradycardia and hypotension and one became tachycardic and hypertensive at the time of recanalization. Spontaneous reversion of the bradycardia and hypotension occurred definitely in six patients and possibly in more (nine reverted after atropine and two after fluids). A positive correlation existed between the changes in heart rate and blood pressure, in contrast to the usual inverse relationship when baroreceptors are stimulated. Two of the three patients in whom reperfusion was transient also developed hypotension and bradycardia. In contrast, all 11 patients with persistent occlusion demonstrated no reflex cardiovascular changes during intracoronary thrombolytic therapy. Thus, successful reperfusion in AMI stimulates cardioinhibitory and vasodepressor (Bezold-Jarisch) reflexes. These findings raise the possibility that the transient hypotension and bradycardia observed during AMI, particularly inferior MI, may sometimes reflect the occurrence of spontaneous reperfusion of the acutely ischemic myocardium.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Indomethacin-induced scar thinning after experimental myocardial infarction.

We investigated the effect of indomethacin, a widely used nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug, on the healing of myocardial infarction (MI). Experimental MI was produced in anesthetized, open-chest dogs by occluding the left anterior descending coronary artery. Ten dogs received indomethacin, 10 mg/kg i.v., and 11 received saline, 15 minutes and 3 hours after occlusion. After 6 weeks, the dogs were killed and their hearts were subjected to morphologic and biochemical analysis. The average thickness of the transmural scar and the noninfarcted left ventricular wall was measured at multiple sites in formalin-fixed left ventricular slices and the ratio of the thickness of the transmural scar to the noninfarcted wall determined. The average thickness of the noninfarcted wall was 8.80 +/- 0.19 mm (mean +/- SEM) in the control group and 8.44 +/- 0.26 mm in the indomethacin group (NS). The scar thickness was 7.24 +/- 0.64 mm in the control group and 3.56 +/- 0.40 mm in the indomethacin group (p less than 0.001). The ratio of scar to noninfarcted wall thickness was 0.83 +/- 0.07 in the control group and 0.43 +/- 0.04 in the indomethacin group (p less than 0.001). Scars in treated dogs did not differ from controls either by light microscopic histologic analysis or by analysis of hydroxyproline content per unit weight. We conclude that indomethacin results in marked scar thinning when given early after experimental MI.

Animals↗