Does phenylephrine bolus administration impair left ventricular function compared to norepinephrine in patients during isoflurane-induced hypotension?
Phenylephrine bolus administration causes a transient impairment of left ventricular systolic performance compared to norepinephrine during isoflurane-induced hypotension.
By using transesophageal echocardiography, we examined the effect of phenylephrine (PHE) bolus administration on left ventricular function in 16 patients with no known cardiovascular disease during isoflurane-induced hypotension. PHE was compared with norepinephrine (NE). The patients received an intravenous bolus of PHE (2 micrograms/kg) or NE (0.1 microgram/kg) in random order. The second substance was administered after levels of arterial blood pressure and heart rate returned to baseline levels. We determined fractional area change, end-systolic wall stress, and rate-corrected mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening. Both substances effectively restored arterial blood pressure. However, after PHE, fractional area change decreased from 0.45 to 0.31 (mean) and rate corrected mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening from 0.88 to 0.57 circumference/s, whereas both variables remained unchanged in response to NE. End-systolic wall stress increased after PHE and NE from 47.4 to 91.2 and from 54.0 to 65.2 10(3) dyne/cm2, respectively. We conclude that phenylephrine, given as intravenous bolus to patients under isoflurane hypotension, causes a transient impairment of left ventricular systolic performance.
Goertz et al. (1993) studied this question.