[Epidural anesthesia with high dose fentanyl for a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy]

Dilated cardiomyopathy is defined as a syndrome of dilated ventricles with gross impairment of ventricular systolic function. Recently, there are several anesthetic reports regarding this syndrome. But any appropriate anesthetic method has not been established. A 59-year-old man with dilated cardiomyopathy underwent low anterior resection of rectum. We employed the technique of high dose epidural fentanyl anesthesia as the anesthetic method. During surgery, mild hypotension developed, but other cardiovascular abnormalities were not observed during and after the operation. Based on this result, the authors recommend that high dose epidural fentanyl anesthesia is an anesthetic method of choice for patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.