Clinical pharmacology of loop diuretics: a comparative study.

The authors performed two studies to clarify the characteristics, analogies and differences of three loop diuretics (furosemide, bumetanide and piretanide) aiming at more precise indications for their clinical use. In the first study, they compared bumetanide and piretanide by the method of compensated diuresis; in the second, they tested the three loop diuretics' efficacy in refractory ascites. The authors demonstrated that with the three substances analogous results were obtained when administered at equivalent doses and that only intensive diuresis was able to resolve refractory ascites.