Postural changes and isosorbide dinitrate. A polygraphic study in patients with coronary artery disease.

Sitting or orthostatic positions and trinitrine-like drugs reduce venous return. We focused on the non-invasive assessment of postural-induced cardiovascular stress and isosorbide dinitrate (IDN) induced changes in 8 male patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), using polygraphic recordings by means of a Thermistor Pulse Transducer. The pre-ejection period (PEP) is sensitive to reduced preload and to the positive inotropic state of the myocardium. In addition, the % diastole (RR interval--electromechanical systole/RR interval) has been recently demonstrated to be correlated to coronary perfusion in CAD patients. We observed that IDN in clinostatism and the sitting position reduced preload (longer PEP) with increased heart rate (HR) and did not affect % diastole. In orthostatism, while controls showed an increased HR and prolonged PEP, the HR was higher after IDN, with a fall in PEP and a significant decrease in % diastole. We ascribed this change to adrenergic stimulation by the hypotensive actions of IDN (lowered mean blood pressure) in orthostatism and with a fall in coronary perfusion. Caution should be taken in CAD patients when postural stress could occur during IDN treatment. Moreover, polygraphic studies can be useful to detect individual responses to nitrates and serial recordings could be employed to assess late responses to chronic management with IDN.