The haemodynamic effects of a single intravenous dose of verapamil have been investigated in patients with chronic obstructive airways disease both during an acute exacerbation and when in a stable clinical condition and compared with the effects of oxygen administered by nasal cannulae.In five patients studied during and episode of acute on chronic hypoxaemia (mean PaO2=5.4 kPa) there was a significant fall in pulmonary vascular resistance (p<0.03) following intravenous verapamil (10 mg) without any reduction in PaO2, cardiac index or oxygen delivery. Subsequent administration of oxygen by nasal cannulae at 21/min for 30 min produced similar pulmonary haemodynamic changes: pulmonary vascular resistance fell by 17+3 per cent following oxygen and by 22+4 per cent following verapamil.In a similar group of five patients in a stable clinical condition (mean PaO2=7.3 kPa) neither oxygen nor verapamil administered during acute exacerbations produced any significant changes in pulmonary vascular resistance, cardiac index or oxygen delivery.
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