Rapid changes of atrial natriuretic peptide concentration during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

In 34 patients undergoing routine coronary angioplasty, concentrations of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), plasma renin (PR), and plasma aldosterone (PA) were estimated before, during, and after vessel occlusion and were correlated with hemodynamic changes. For the group as a whole, averaged right atrial pressure rose significantly (p less than 0.001) from 4.4 +/- 1.8 mm Hg at baseline to 6.7 +/- 3.0 mm Hg during vessel occlusion, and average right atrial ANP concentrations increased significantly (p less than 0.005) from 50.1 +/- 18.8 pg/ml to 59.7 +/- 21.4 pg/ml during balloon inflation. Data analysis of subgroups did not show any differences in right atrial pressure elevations between patients with left anterior descending artery (LAD) or right coronary artery (RCA) disease; ANP elevation was significant only in patients with LAD occlusion (p less than 0.001). In individual patients no statistically significant correlations were found to be present between changes in right atrial pressures and changes in atrial ANP concentrations. During vessel occlusion, PR dropped from 0.86 +/- 1.11 ng/ml/hr to 0.65 +/- 0.85 ng/ml/hr (p less than 0.001) in all patients, and PA decreased from 63.0 +/- 50.9 ng/ml to 52.2 +/- 43.4 ng/ml (p less than 0.01). Our data support the concept that, although an increase in right atrial pressure leads to ANP release in the majority of patients, atrial pressure and stretch are not the only regulatory factors of ANP release in humans.