[Treatment of refractory chronic circulatory insufficiency]

An analysis of archives material (1,500 case reports of patients with circulatory insufficiency) revealed that 200 patients (13%) had persistent, refractory circulatory failure. The revealed factors providing for the development of the refractoriness were: relapsing rheumocarditis, pneumonias, pulmonary infarctions in patients with rheumatic heart diseases, extended cicatrical changes in the myocardium of patients with atherosclerotic cardiosclerosis, or the underlying pathological process in cases of idiopathic myocardial lesions. These factors were taken into account, along with individualization of the therapeutic regimens of cardiac glycosides.