[Hemodynamic effects of microencapsulated delayed-release nitroglycerin in acute myocardial infarction]

The hemodynamic effects following an oral dose of 19.5 mg of nitroglycerin microencapsulated to give prolonged release have been studied in 10 patients during the 48 hours which followed the establishment of a myocardial infarct complicated by moderate left cardiac insufficiency. The right auricular pressure and the pulmonary capillary pressure diminished significantly 20 minutes after the dose; 4 hours later the persistence of these effects is significant. A transient diminution of the systolic arterial pressure was observed initially (p less than 0.05). We observed that the cardiac index tends to increase although the increase did not attain the threshold of significance. No difference was observed in cardiac frequency, diastolic and mean arterial pressure and in the systemic vascular resistance. We conclude that in the patient presenting an acute myocardial infarct, 19.5 mg of NTG, microencapsulated to give prolonged release, essentially produce a reduction of the preload, with an early onset of action and a hemodynamic efficacy lasting at least 4 hours.