Effect of allopurinol (Zyloric) on patients undergoing open heart surgery.

We observed previously that allopurinol, which was used for the treatment of gout, had a life saving effect after experiment on traumatic shock rats and hemorrhagic shock rabbits. To evaluate the effect of allopurinol fifteen patients undergoing open heart surgery who were considered to have similar metabolic derangement in shock patient were examined. Allopurinol was given orally 2 mg per kg body weight twice before the start of nitrous oxide, oxygen and halothane anesthesia. In the control group of ten patients who were not treated with allopurinol, serum uric acid increased, the lactate/pyruvate ratio rose and beta-glucuronidase activity increased respectively after open heart surgery as in shock. But the metabolic changes of the fifteen patients pretreated with allopurinol were less significant, although same tendency was observed. The heart beat of all patients except one case in the allopurinol group, started spontaneously after extracorporeal circulation without using DC counter shock. In the control group all patients needed DC counter shock. We concluded that allopurinol was effective in preventing damage of cellular structures and derangements of metabolism of patients undergoing open heart surgery.