Cardiovascular effects of sulmazol administered intravenously to patients with severe heart failure.

Ten patients with severe heart failure (NYHA class IV) received sulmazol intravenously under haemodynamic and electrocardiographic surveillance. All patients were on maintenance doses of digitalis and diuretics. At 30 min intervals we increased the infusion rate of sulmazol from 1 to 2, 4, 6, and 8 mg min-1, to a total of 630 mg of sulmazol administered over 150 min. Statistically significant changes (P less than 0.001) were found for heart rate (from 97 to 103 min-1); right atrial pressure (from 9.5 to 1.5 mmHg); pulmonary artery diastolic pressure (from 25.0 to 9.0 mmHg); pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (from 22.0 to 9.0 mmHg); aortic diastolic pressure (from 62.5 to 52.5 mmHg); pulmonary artery oxygen saturation (from 53.0 to 68.5%); cardiac output (from 2.83 to 4.38 l min-1), and for indices derived from these measurements. No correlation was found between the improvement in cardiac performance and sulmazol plasma concentrations. Haemodynamic improvement persisted for more than 7.5 h after cessation of sulmazol administration. Renal function was measured before and after sulmazol administration; creatinine clearance (from 47.5 to 52.0 ml min-1) and p-amino hippuric acid clearance (from 146 to 125 ml min-1) were unchanged. Side-effects included yellow-colored vision, ventricular extrasystoles, and possibly sulmazol-induced liver function disturbances. Even in severe heart failure sulmazol improved cardiac performance in patients who were treated with the maximum tolerated dose of digoxin.