Correlations of hemodynamic parameters with plasma catecholamines in patients with congestive cardiomyopathy

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Abstract
Noradrenaline and adrenaline blood levels, as well as central hemodynamics (Swan‐Ganz semi‐floating balloon‐tipped catheter), were measured at rest and during moderate exercise in 8 male patients suffering with idiopathic congestive cardiomyopathy (COCM), and in 12 healthy male control subjects. The stroke volume and the cardiac output in COCM were, on the average, one‐half that of the control subjects; adrenaline, noradrenaline, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, as well as the roentgenographically determined heart volume (at rest) in COCM were, on the average, increased more than twice the control values. The noradrenaline and adrenaline responses in COCM reached at the 25‐W exercise level the response of controls at the 150‐W level. Direct correlations were observed between the cate‐cholamine responses and the capillary wedge pressure as well as the heart volume; inverse correlations existed between the catecholamines and the stroke volume or the cardiac output. The results may be indicative of a causal relationship between the reduced function of the left heart and a compensatorily increased sympathetic activity, but they are not at all conclusive for a definite cause‐effect response. The differences in catecholamine levels and the correlations are more significant for noradrenaline during both exercise and rest, whereas for adrenaline significance only occurred during exercise. The noradrenaline and adrenaline levels may serve as indicators (especially in the chronic stage) in the diagnosis of reduced left ventricular function.