[The prolonged use of calcium antagonists in myocardial infarct in rats: their effect on hemodynamics and the contractile function and morphology of the heart muscle].

Experiments on rats with myocardial infarction induced by occlusion of the left coronary artery were made to explore the influence of calcium antagonists injected intraperitoneally for a long time (daily, for 21 days) on hemodynamics, contractile function and morphology of the heart muscle. It has been shown that verapamil (0.5 mg/kg), diltiazem (2 mg/kg) and nimodipine (20 micrograms/kg) do not exert under those conditions any noticeable effect on pump and contractile heart functions. Administration of verapamil in a doze of 2 mg/kg enhanced heart failure. The drugs under study normalized the response of contractile heart function to volumetric load, which is related to a considerable measure to the acceleration of reparative processes in the myocardium.