Effects of preoperative calcium entry blocker therapy on alpha-adrenergic responsiveness in patients undergoing coronary revascularization

Alpha-adrenergic agonist drugs, left ventricular function, and emergency from cardiopulmonary bypass

The relationship between preoperative left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and the use of alpha-adrenoceptor agonists during weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass was studied in 102 patients undergoing coronary artery surgery. LV function was evaluated subjectively by examination of the 30 degree right anterior oblique left ventriculogram. Group 1 consisted of 75 patients with normal or mild impairment in LV function, whereas group 2 consisted of 27 patients with moderate-severe LV dysfunction. Cardiovascular parameters were measured at baseline, during hypothermic bypass with the aorta clamped, during normothermic bypass after unclamping, and 1 and 15 minutes after separation from bypass. Thirty-seven patients in group 1 (49%) and 11 patients in group 2 (39%) required some form of inotropic and/or vasopressor support during weaning from bypass. Group 2 required significantly higher cumulative doses of phenylephrine after bypass compared with group 1 (1.69 +/- 0.70 mg, n = 9, v 0.24 +/- 0.04 mg, n = 27, P less than 0.05). Similarly, the dose of norepinephrine infusion in group 2 was 3.3 times that in group 1 (10 +/- 6 micrograms/min, n = 2, v 3 +/- 0.6 micrograms/min, n = 2, P = NS). The higher doses of alpha-adrenoceptor agonists required in patients with moderate-severe LV dysfunction may be due to differences in alpha-adrenoceptor agonist affinity and/or receptor density.

Diltiazem withdrawal before coronary artery bypass surgery

The authors studied the effects of withdrawing oral diltiazem therapy on the subsequent course of coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Patients with severe coronary artery disease were divided into three groups using a prospective, controlled, randomized protocol. In group D (diltiazem-continuation) patients, diltiazem was administered 2.1 +/- 0.1 hours (mean +/- SEM) before anesthetic induction (n = 10). Group DW (diltiazem-withdrawal) patients received their final diltiazem dose 17.3 +/- 2.9 hours before anesthesia (n = 10). Group R was a reference group of patients not receiving diltiazem (n = 11; not randomized). Anesthesia was induced and maintained with fentanyl and pancuronium without use of halogenated anesthetics. No clinically important differences were detected in measured hemodynamics or drug requirements. Group D patients did not have a lower systemic vascular resistance (SVR) index (P greater than 0.31) or mean arterial pressure (P greater than 0.08) compared with group DW. Also, no evidence for a diltiazem withdrawal response was found, because group DW did not have either a higher SVR index (P = 0.99) or a higher pulmonary vascular resistance index (P = 0.99) compared with group R, and no severe myocardial ischemia, coronary artery spasm, or postoperative heart block were seen. Plasma diltiazem concentrations decreased significantly during CPB (P less than 0.0001), but showed overlap between groups D and DW. Plasma diltiazem concentration did not correlate significantly with simultaneous SVR. These data show the benign effects of both diltiazem administration and its acute withdrawal before coronary artery bypass surgery with high-dose fentanyl anesthesia.

Effects of preoperative calcium channel and beta-adrenergic blockade on the vascular response to adrenergic agonists during cardiopulmonary bypass

The present report compares the effects of isoproterenol (ISO), norepinephrine (NE), and phenylephrine (PH) on the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and reservoir volume (RV) during cardiopulmonary (CPB) in 16 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) who were treated preoperatively with oral nifedipine (10 to 40 mg, three times a day) and propranolol (40 to 60 mg, three times a day). The changes of RV and MAP were used as indices of the changes in venous capacitance and arterial resistance, respectively, produced by the adrenergic agonists. ISO, a beta-adrenergic agonist, decreased both MAP and RV. NE, which activates both alpha 1- and alpha 2- adrenoceptors, increased both MAP and RV, while PH, a selective alpha 1-adrenergic agonist, increased only MAP with no significant change in RV. The changes are qualitatively similar to those previously achieved in patients undergoing valve replacement who did not receive any blocker preoperatively. However, the decrease of MAP by ISO and its increase by NE were significantly less in the CABG group. It is concluded that preoperative preparation of patients undergoing CABG with beta-adrenergic blockers and calcium channel blockers can modify the effect of ISO and NE on the peripheral resistance, but they have no significant effect on the action of PH at the doses selected in this study.