[Clinical effects of denopamine in patients with cardiac operations]

Denopamine is a new, orally active, positive inotropic agent. We evaluated its clinical effects in 13 patients who had undergone cardiac operations, 8 were in early postoperative periods and 5 were in late postoperative periods. In the former, denopamine therapy (30 mg/day) were started on the 6-14 th postoperative day in 5 patients so that they might free from catecholamine drip infusion (2-14 micrograms/kg/min), and on the 14-24th postoperative day in 3 patients in order that pleural effusion might reduce. All 5 patients were weaned from catecholamine, and pleural effusion in 3 patients disappeared completely. In the latter, denopamine therapy were indicated so that they might get relief from the symptoms of chronic heart failure. Although they had undergone combined valvular operations, they still remained in NYHA class II or III postoperatively, associated with cardiomegaly, hepatomegaly and atrial fibrillation. Denopamine therapy (15-30 mg/day) were quite effective in improving subjective symptoms but not in reducing cardiomegaly or hepatomegaly. No clinically significant side effects were noticed during 9-14 months of denopamine therapy. We conclude that denopamine is a quite useful cardiotonic agent in the postoperative management of patients with cardiac surgery.