[Vasoactive hormone metabolism in the lungs of patients with congenital heart defects]

The role of pulmonary metabolism of adrenaline, noradrenaline (NA), serotonin and histamine in the pathogenesis of hemodynamic disorders was examined in relation to the magnitude of intracardiac discharge (ID) in 30 patients with septal defects. Irrespective of the magnitude of arteriovenous ID, pulmonary tissue deactivation of NA is shown to be disrupted. Where ID averages 7.7 +/- 2.1 1/min, venous blood NA level is 59.8% higher (p less than 0.05) than that of patients with average ID of 3.1 +/- 0.7 1/min. A positive correlation (r = 0.51) is demonstrated between venous NA levels and ID in the latter group. The data obtained suggest that high ID values are associated with disturbed pulmonary metabolism and increased arterial levels of serotonin and NA, a significant contribution to the development of functional and morphologic vascular disorders of systemic and pulmonary circulation.