Spectrum of acute hemodynamic effects of nifedipine in severe congestive heart failure

Abstract The acute hemodynamic effects of 20 to 50 mg of orally administered nifedipine were evaluated in 31 patients with severe chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) and the results were analyzed according to the response of the cardiac index (CI). Although the group mean value of CI increased significantly after nifedipine treatment (from 2.1 ± 0.5 to 2.4 ± 0.8 liters/min/m 2 , p