[Effect of salbutamol on left ventricular function and selected biochemical parameters in patients with bronchial...

Many authors link increased mortality in course of bronchial asthma (BA) with the administration of excessive doses of beta-2 agonists, one of the causes considered being their cardiotoxic effect. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of 0.5 mg intravenous bolus of salbutamol (S) on left ventricular (LV) function assessed by echocardiography and on the selected biochemical parameters: the activity of creatinine kinase (CK) and its cardiac specific isoenzyme (CK-MB), potassium (K+) and free fatty acids (FFA) serum concentration as well as partial arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2). The studied group consisted of 16 patients (pts)--12 males and 4 females, aged 36-60 yrs, mean 49.0 +/- 7 yrs with BA and moderate airway obstruction (FEV1%VC--60 +/- 7%). Pts with cardiac disorders were excluded from the study. Echocardiographic examination was performed before and 30 min after S injection. Biochemical determinations were carried out at 5 min., 30 min, 2 h, and 4 h following S administration. We found mean HR increase by 20 beats per min (p < 0.001) and mean systolic blood pressure elevation by 19 mmHg at 30 min (p < 0.001) after S. It was accompanied by significant increase of cardiac output (CO) from 5.7 +/- 1.5 to 8.4 +/- 1.8 l/min (p < 0.001) and mean rate of circumferential shortening (mVcf) from 1.48 +/- 0.27 to 1.88 +/- 0.43 (circ/sec), p < 0.01. Stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF%), fractional shortening of LV (FS%) increased nonsignificantly.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)