The Clinical Use of Nor-Epinephrine in the Treatment of Shock Accompanying Myocardial Infarction and Other Conditions

THE recent availability of pure L-nor-epinephrine (arterenol, nor-adrenaline) has permitted evaluation of its clinical usefulness as a pressor agent. Preliminary reports1 2 3 4 5 6 7 have suggested beneficial results after its use in the treatment of peripheral vascular collapse. The purpose of this paper is to describe our experience with the drug, particularly in the successful treatment of shock accompanying acute myocardial infarction.Pharmacologic PropertiesNor-epinephrine (aminoethanol catechol) is a sympathomimetic primary amine, first synthesized by Stoltz8 in 1904. It can be distinguished from epinephrine by chemical, chromatographic and physiologic methods.9 The formulas are shown in Figure 1. Naturally occurring nor-epinephrine has been identified as . . .