Effect of combined nitroglycerin and dobutamine infusion in left ventricular dysfunction

Abstract The immediate therapy of severe left ventricular (LV) failure after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) frequently requires simultaneous preload reduction, pump output augmentation, and maintenance of systemic blood pressure. Therefore the effects of intravenous nitroglycerin (NG) and dobutamine (DB) were evaluated in 12 patients with severe LV failure following AMI. Nitroglycerin achieved salutary lowering of abnormally elevated LV filling pressure (23 to 14 mm Hg, p 2 , p p 2 , p p p > 0.05). Both agents were well tolerated without clinical or ECG evidence of myocardial ischemia or dysrhythmias. Thus the principally venodilator effects of NG minimize systemic hypotension while salutary augmentation of cardiac function in AMI with LV failure is achieved by NG + DB.