THERAPY OF PATIENTS WITH CORONARY HEART-DISEASE AND HEART-FAILURE AFTER BYPASS-SURGERY

In an open study 40 patients after bypass surgery with heart failure and coronary heart disease were treated with digitalis/diuretic or verapamil/diuretic. The results of the study show, that there were equal effects of both treatment regimes on blood pressure, heart rate, pressure-rate product, maximum stress, and X-ray heart volume. The digitalis/diuretic regimen leads to a decrease in serum potassium concentration from 4.5 +/- 0.1 mmol/l to 3.9 +/- 0.2 mmol/l. Ventricular extrasystoles were better influenced by digitalis/diuretic. For patients after bypass surgery the verapamil/diuretic regimen could be an alternative therapy in comparison with digitalis/diuretic.