Effects of nicardipine on ventriculo-arterial coupling in humans

The ratio of effective arterial elastance (Ea) to left ventricular elastance (Ees) is an indicator of the coupling between ventricular properties and arterial load properties. Another criterion for the coupling between an energy source and its load is the principle of economical fuel consumption, or mechanical efficiency, which is defined as the ratio of stroke work (SW) to myocardial oxygen consumption per beat (MVO2). It has been revealed that SW of ventricular contraction is maximized when Ea/Ees = 1, while mechanical efficiency is maximized when Ea/Ees = 0.5. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the ventriculo-arterial coupling during hypertension, and the effects of nicardipine on this relationship in surgical patients using Ea/Ees and SW/MVO2 as indicators. Anaesthesia was maintained with isoflurane, nitrous oxide, and fentanyl. Radial artery pressure was displayed on a polygraph, and left ventricular end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes were determined by use of transoesophageal echocardiography. Ees was calculated as MAP/(ESVI-4), where MAP is mean arterial pressure and ESVI is end-systolic volume index. Ea was calculated as the ratio of MAP to stroke volume index (SVI). Stroke work index (SWI) was calculated as the product of MAP and SVI. MVO2 was assessed by estimating the ventricular pressure-volume area index (PVAI), which is expressed as the sum of SWI and the end-systolic potential energy index. Before (baseline), and 3, 10, 20, and 30 min after i.v. nicardipine (30 micrograms kg-1), Ea/Ees and SWI/PVAI were determined in 14 surgical patients with intraoperative hypertension. Before nicardipine (during hypertension), Ea was almost equal to Ees, whereas Ea/Ees was significantly reduced to about 0.5-0.6 at 3, 10, and 20 min after nicardipine. SWI/PVAI was maximized and significantly greater than the baseline value at 3 min after nicardipine. These results suggest that, during hypertension, ventricular and arterial properties were so matched as to maximize SW at the expense of the work efficiency, whereas mechanical efficiency of ventricular contraction was maximized after nicardipine.