Systematic review shows nitrates improve cardiac function and hemodynamics in heart failure and pulmonary hypertension patients, suggesting clinical benefits remain limited.
Key Points
Nitrates significantly improved cardiac function during exercise, increasing stroke volume by 0.86 mL and cardiac output by 0.57 L/min.
At rest, nitrates reduced systolic blood pressure by 0.36 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 0.19 mmHg in heart failure and pulmonary hypertension patients.
Fourteen trials involving 469 patients were analyzed using a random-effects model to assess nitrite effects on cardiac health.
These findings indicate nitrates help manage resting hemodynamic overload, although benefits for exercise capacity are limited.