Effects of Hydroflumethiazide in Congestive Heart Failure: Renal Electrolyte Excretion Related to Urinary Thiazide Excretion and Aldosterone

The effect of hydroflumethiazide (HFT) on renal excretion of sodium, chloride, and potassium was studied in congestive heart failure and related to urinary excretion of thiazide and aldosterone. HFT 75 or 150 mg was administered orally once daily for 4 days to 8 male patients with roentgenological evidence of enlarged heart and slight or no peripheral oedema receiving digitalis and controlled diet. Urinary excretion of HFT did not change after repeated doses, whereas urinary excretion of a metabolite increased significantly. Initially, HFT induced a significant increase in the urinary excretion of sodium and potassium. After repeated doses, the natriuretic effect declined gradually in 6 of the patients. There was consistently a small natriuretic effect and a large kaliuretic effect at high serum aldosterone concentrations and high urine aldosterone excretion rates, whereas at low aldosterone levels, there was a wide range in magnitude of these effects. Relationships of the log urinary excretion rate of HFT to the increase in urinary excretion rate of sodium, chloride, and potassium showed positive and significant correlations. It was concluded that reduced natriuretic effect of HFT in congestive heart failure is not due to reduced delivery of thiazide to renal tubular cells but to compensatory adjustments of the kidney in part induced by aldosterone.