Of Vasodilation in the Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure

William Harvey's contribution to medicine will never be forgotten. His work changed and corrected the concept of the distribution of blood throughout the body. The human circulation is considered daily by all physicians and physiologists as they are confronted with cardiovascular diseases and pathophysiological cardiovascular processes. Harvey, as true of most great contributors to science, was a keen and thoughtful observer who used few special complex recorders or apparatus to make his great discovery. In fact, there were essentially no physiological recorders of any sort available at the time of his great contribution. In view of these facts and of the nature of Harvey's contribution, it is appropriate to present this brief discussion of the peripheral circulation in congestive heart failure and the use of vasodilators in therapy of acute and intractable congestive heart failure (CHF) in which observations and management are satisfactorily made at the bedside without complex equipment