[Current findings on nocturnal catecholamine excretion in coronary patients]

In 10 patients after myocardial infarction (mean age 53 +/- 8 years) with a normal ejection fraction (EF) and in 10 healthy people (mean age 52 +/- 8 years) the night urinary excretion of noradrenaline and adrenaline was investigated. Additionally to that the vanillic acid vanilmandelic acid and serotonin were determined. Our results show that patients after myocardial infarction with normal EF have significant higher noradrenaline values at night than healthy people (1.95 +/- 1.26 micrograms/h vs. 0.96 +/- 0.37 microgram/h [p less than 0.01]). The night urinary excretion of adrenaline was also increased in patients after MI, but there were no significant differences between the 2 groups (0.51 +/- 0.28 microgram/h vs. 0.27 +/- 0.14 microgram/h [p less than 0.1]). Serotonin was higher in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), but there was also no significant difference (0.15 +/- 0.14 mg/h vs. 0.08 +/- 0.05 mg/h). Cholesterol values were significantly higher in patients with CHD (245 +/- 56 mg%) than in the group of healthy people (177 +/- 45 mg% [p less than 0.01]). Our own results are of great interest because we found out (to our knowledge for the first time) that patients with CHD show significant higher levels of urinary noradrenaline excretion during the night than healthy volunteers. The raised noradrenaline values may present a particular risk factor for coronary heart disease.