Clinical evaluation of intravenous hexoprenaline in bronchial asthma

5 ug of hexoprenaline given intravenously resulted in a significant relief of airway obstruction in 12 out of 16 patients with acute attack of bronchial asthma. It produced a 40% increase in peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) with a peak at 5 minutes and a 12% increase was still present at 2 hours. It produced only minimal cardiovascular side effects. As a bronchodilator, it was as effective as 0.5 mg of addrenaline given subcutaneously though the latter suffered from considerable cardiovascular side effects as shown by a 12% elevation of systolic blood pressure and a 16% reduction in the diastolic blood pressure.