[Intravenous administration of nitroglycerin to patients with unstable stenocardia]

Thirty-two patients with unstable angina were given i.v. infusions of nitroglycerin (from 2 h to 9 days, an average of 62 h) under the control of the level of arterial pressure. Indications for i.v. administration of nitroglycerin were frequent attacks of angina of effort and at rest in combination with prolonged angina attacks which persisted in spite of treatment with nitrates of prolonged action, calcium antagonists and beta-blocking agents. A moderate decrease in arterial pressure without significant change in heart rate was noted against a background of nitroglycerin infusions. The best antianginal effect was achieved in patients with frequent angina attacks, and on the whole a stable state using i.v. nitroglycerin infusions was achieved in 2/3 of the patients. A low antianginal efficacy of i.v. infusion of nitroglycerin in patients with unstable angina was an unfavorable prognostic sign: in this group myocardial infarction developed approximately in half of the patients during their stay in hospital.