[Results of treatment for severe congestive heart failure with digoxin, furosemide and vasodilating agents]

In 61 patients with class IV (NYHA) of chronic congestive cardiac failure treated for 2 weeks with digoxin (0.290 +/- 0.108 mg/d) and furosemide (13.0 +/- 4.1 mg/d), for 2 weeks with digoxin, furosemide and isosorbide dinitrate (44.5 +/- 9.8 mg/d) or nifedipine (42.0 +/- 12.2 mg/d), for 4 weeks with digoxin, furosemide, isosorbide or nifedipine and captopril (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor) (75.1 +/- 24.4 mg/d), and for the last 2 weeks with digoxin, furosemide, isosorbide or nifedipine without captopril, after each stage the clinical state, exercise tolerance and haemodynamic parameters determined echocardiographically were assessed. Ten weeks of treatment by this method caused regression of pulmonary congestion in 80%, oedema in 63.3% and hepatomegaly in 33.3% of the patients. Moreover, 60.7% of the patients returned to class III, 13.1% to class II, and 26.2% remained in class IV (NYHA). In the group treated with digoxin, furosemide, nifedipine with captopril (n = 30) a significant rise was observed of the value of the ejection fraction and cardiac index in relation to the treatment with digoxin and furosemide and the treatment with digoxin, furosemide, nifedipine (p less than 0.05). No drug improved significantly the tolerance of submaximal exercise. During the treatment with captopril no clinical improvement was achieved in 4 cases, and worsening occurred in 3 cases of severe cardiac failure (7 of 61 patients, 11.5%). The obtained results showed that vasodilating drugs are safe in congestive cardiac failure and in many cases of severe failure captopril contributed to rapid clinical and haemodynamic improvement.