Congestive heart failure vasodilators
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
- A nitrate may be added to ACE inhibitors to relieve symptoms of pulmonary edema
- The addition of a nitrate to an ACE inhibitor may improve exercised tolerance.
- The combination of hydralazine and nitrates is useful when ACE inhibitors are not well tolerated.
- Hydralazine by itself is only an arterial vasodilator and does not reduce left ventricular filling pressures to the same extent as nitrates and ACE inhibitors do. In fact when used alone it can stimulate sympathetic tone reflexively. The combination of hydralazine and nitrates has been shown to decrease mortality as well as improve the left ventricular ejection fraction and exercise capacity in patients with heart failure. However the combination of hydralazine and nitrates has been found to be less effective than ACE inhibitors.
- The major of use of this combination is in those patients who are intolerant of ACE inhibitors.