Perioperative myocardial protection with the calcium antagonist diltiazem

90 patients undergoing isolated aortic valve replacement for aortic valve diseases with marked left ventricular hypertrophy

Diltiazem administered via various regimens (Group 1: 5-day preoperative oral 60 mg 3 times daily + 10 mg IV bolus before cardiopulmonary bypass [CPB] + 5 mg IV 10 min before aortic clamp removal; Group 2: 5-day preoperative oral 60 mg 3 times daily; Group 3: 10 mg IV bolus before CPB + 5 mg IV 10 min before aortic clamp removal; Group 4: 15 mg in 1000 ml cardioplegic solution)

Control group not receiving diltiazem (Group 5)

Postperfusion cardiac performance measured by cardiac output (CO), cardiac index (CI), left ventricular stroke work index (LVSWI), and systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI)surrogate