[Influence of almitrine dimesylate on gas exchange. Preliminary results in patients with chronic obstructive bronchopneumopathies under artificial ventilation].

From a study conducted in 1981 in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease breathing spontaneously, it was concluded that almitrine ensured a more even distribution of ventilation-perfusion ratios in the lung. Another study has recently been undertaken to suppress the effects of stimulated ventilation observed and to measure more accurately the pulmonary vascular effect of this new drug. This was a randomized double-blind drug versus placebo trial using the same doses of almitrine (1.5 mg/kg orally) in patients of the same type under stable artificial respiration controlled by repeated measurements of ventilation during the weaning period at the end of an episode of acute respiratory failure. The preliminary results obtained in one-half of the patients (4 under almitrine, 4 under placebo) are reported. There was little difference in haemodynamic values between the two groups. Improvement in PaO2 was maximum 90 min after almitrine was administered and varied from 0.7 to 1.4 kPa; there was no modification in the control group. In the absence of any change in ventilation and respiratory rate, perfusion was reduced in lung areas with low ventilation-perfusion ratio. These partial results seem to confirm that almitrine exerts a moderate, though real, effect on pulmonary vessels.