[Experience in the use of finoptin (verapamil) in cerebrovascular diseases]

Twenty-seven patients with dyscirculatory encephalopathies grades I and II and 20 acute ischemic stroke patients received finoptin (verapamil) at daily 5 to 10 mg i. v. or 120 to 240 mg oral doses. The course lasted for 2 months. Rheoencephalography (RhEG) revealed an increase in cerebral blood filling 3 to 5 min after the single finoptin administration. The effect lasted for an average of 40 to 60 min. Central hemodynamic changes were represented by lowering blood pressure and total peripheral vascular resistance, increasing stroke volume and cardiac output. The effect was observable 40 min after a single i. v. injection of the drug. Beginning from the 2nd to 3rd day of the treatment, the patients' subjective conditions improved with reduced strength of general cerebral signs of stroke, RhEG and ECG changes indicating the permanent increase in cerebral circulation and reduced left ventricular overload.