Electrophysiologic Properties of Hydralazine in Man

There is considerable interest in selecting the proper drug to preserve the ischemic myocardium, or twilight zone, in a patient with a recent myocardial infarction. Vasodilator therapy with an infusion of nitroprusside or phentolamine has been shown to improve left ventricular function by reducing both preload and afterload. Sublingual nitroglycerin as well as an infusion of nitroglycerin can also alleviate left ventricular failure in patients with an acute myocardial infarction. Similarly, chronic congestive heart failure patients, irrespective of the etiology, improve hemodynamically after an infusion of phentolamine, nitroprusside or hydralazine. Oral nitrates, phentolamine, and hydralazine have also been demonstrated to produce improvement in chronic heart failure patients. Recently data has become available on the effects of phentolamine, nitroglycerin and nitroprusside on cardiac conduction in man. However there is no information on the electrophysiological properties of hydralazine in man. The present study involving 12 human subjects was undertaken to determine what effect intravenously administered hydralazine has on the human conduction system.