Original Paper

Pulmonary Vascular Responsiveness at Rest and during Exercise in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Effects of Oxygen and Nifedipine
Carlo Sturani, Spyridion Papiris, Vanni Galavotti, Giuseppe Gunella

Cattedra di Fisiopatologia Respiratoria, Università di Bologna, e Servizio di Fisiopatologia Respiratoria, Policlinico S. Orsola, Bologna, Italia

Address of Corresponding Author

Respiration 1986;50:117-129 (DOI: 10.1159/000194918)

  Key Words

• Pulmonary fibrosis
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Exercise
• Oxygen
• Nifedipine

  Abstract

To detect whether pulmonary vascular responsiveness is a factor which can aggravate the pulmonary hypertension induced by irreversible pulmonary fibrosis, we examined the acute hemodynamic effects of low-flow oxygen and of nifedipine both at rest and during exercise in 8 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). During exercise, the increments in pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and right ventricular stroke work index relative to resting values were blunted by both treatments. During exercise, both systemic vascular resistance and PVR decreased more significantly after nifedipine than on oxygen (p < 0.001). At exercise, nifedipine administration induced a greater increment in oxygen delivery (CaO₂ × CI) than that produced by oxygen breathing (p < 0.01). Our results in patients with IPF seem to confirm that active vasoconstriction of pulmonary vessels may contribute to the pulmonary hypertension during exercise. The evaluation of reversibility of pulmonary hypertension by nifedipine in IPF deserves further long-term studies

Copyright © 1986 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Dr. C. Sturani, Servizio di Fisiopatologia Respiratoria, Policlinico S. Orsola, Via Massarenti, 9, I-40138 Bologna (Italy)

  Article Information

Received: July 9, 1985
Accepted after revision: January 2, 1986
Published online: January 16, 2009
Number of Print Pages : 13