[Use of dopamine in postoperative reanimation after heart surgery. Preliminary results]

The dopamine was used on ten patients having undergone one or several valvular replacements under extra-corporeal circulation. The essential indication was the appearance postoperatively of more or less serious circulatory failure. The dopamine was administered by drip in doses of 2.5, 5 or 10 mug/kg/min. The effects on the frequency of the cardiac rhythm were moderate. On two cases, ventricular hyperexcitability induced by isoprenaline disappeared under dopamine. The chief effects were an increase in cardiac output, in the form of an increase in the volume of systolic ejection and lowering of the peripheral resistances. A steady increase in urinary volume preceded the amelioration of clinical signs of circulatory failure.