[Use of peripheral vasodilators with different mechanisms of action in treating heart failure patients]

The efficacy of peripheral vasodilators with various mechanisms of action was studied in 26 patents with congestive heart failure, left ventricular dilatation and valvular regurgitation. An acute pharmacological test using prazosin was used in all the patients, 20 of them were given a 15-day course of prazosin therapy, 19 patients received a prolonged course of prazosin therapy (over 3 mos.), 15 patients were given a 15-day course with a combination of isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine. ECG monitoring, catheterization of the right cardiac chambers, thermodilution, and tetrapolar impedance plethysmography were employed. Heart rate, arterial pressure, parameters of cardiac pre- and afterload and pulmonary hemodynamics were studied. Prazosin and isosorbide dinitrate in combination with hydralazine showed a high clinical efficacy in the treatment of patients with congestive heart failure. The improvement of clinical symptomatology was accompanied by considerable positive shifts of the central and peripheral hemodynamics. No considerable differences in the efficacy of prazosin and the combination of isosorbide dinitrate with hydralazine were revealed.