[Hemodynamic effect of enflurane in man]

The following hemodynamic parameters: cardiac frequency, peripheral arterial pressure, pulmonary pressure and cardiac output were measured by direct catheterisation, as the total peripheral vascular resistance and the systolic ejection volume were calculated from the registered results. The cardiac frequency and the pulmonary arterial pressure were practically not modified in our patients, though we have observed a statistically significant decrease of systolic (-30p. 100) and diastolic (-27p. 100) arterial pressure. The total peripheral vascular resistance shows a marked diminution (-20p. 100) after giving Ethrane? for ten minutes. If it is possible that one part, surely important, of the cardiac output, is preserved under Ethrane anesthesia by a significant decrease of the total peripheral vascular resistance, a myocardial depression might be questionned, the decrease of cardiac output at 30 minutes being more important than the decrease of the total peripheral vascular resistance.