[The course of chronic circulatory insufficiency in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension]

A physical and X-ray examination and echo-, electro- and phonocardiographies were performed in 29 patients with primary pulmonary hypertension. Their central hemodynamics was also conducted by introducing a Swan-Ganz flowing balloon catheter into the right cardiac cavities. With evolving chronic circulatory insufficiency, the patients showed profound hemodynamic changes both in the right (end-diastolic pressure in the right ventricle and atrium rose and ventricular stroke index dropped) and left (heart rate increased, cardiac and stroke indices decreased in the ventricle) ventricles. There were slight changes in peripheral hemodynamics. Pulmonary pressure became lower, but this fact cannot be considered to be positive as this led to significantly lower right ventricular stroke index that indicates the critical diminution in right ventricular performance, unlike cases successfully treated with peripheral vasodilators.