Cutaneous absorption of nitroglycerin is a well-documented phenomenon which may have unique advantages for the sustained prophylaxis of angina pectoris. Therefore, we have examined the effects of nitroglycerin ointment and placebo on exercise capacity in 14 patients with angina pectoris. Nitroglycerin ointment produced a significant increase in exercise capacity which persisted for at least thr...

Cutaneous absorption of nitroglycerin is a well-documented phenomenon which may have unique advantages for the sustained prophylaxis of angina pectoris. Therefore, we have examined the effects of nitroglycerin ointment and placebo on exercise capacity in 14 patients with angina pectoris. Nitroglycerin ointment produced a significant increase in exercise capacity which persisted for at least thr...

N itroglycerin, which was originally synthesized by Ascanio Sobrero, was used by Alfred Nobel to manufacture dynamite. It was in Nobel’s dynamite factories in the late 1860s that the antianginal effect of nitroglycerin was discovered. Two interesting observations were made. First, factory workers on Monday mornings often complained of headaches that disappeared over the weekends. Second, factor...

Because of clinical observations suggesting that nitroglycerin may suppress premature ventricular complexes during acute ischaemia, a study was undertaken to assess the effect of nitroglycerin on the incidence of premature ventricular complexes in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Forty patients with acute myocardial infarction were studied. Twenty-six patients received 0.4 mg nitrogly...

The natural history of contraction abnormalities and their response after acute myocardial infarction in man were studied using radionuclide angiography. Sixteen patients were studied before and after sublingual nitroglycerin within 24 hours, 5-7 days and 4-6 weeks after the onset of chest pain. Within 24 hours, central chord shortening in the zone of infarction was reduced to 13.1 +/- 9.8%, bu...

This study examined the effects of sublingually administered nitroglycerin on forearm resistance vessels in normal subjects (n = 9) and in patients with congestive heart failure (n = 8). Forearm blood flow was measured with a strain-gauge plethysmograph and forearm vascular resistance was calculated. To assess the magnitude of reflex forearm vasoconstriction triggered by decreased central venou...

The results of prior studies indicate that nitroglycerin stimulates prostacyclin release by cultured endothelium and by the coronary vasculature in vivo. However, the accuracy of these findings in coronary vasculature relies on plasma samples obtained from the circulation via cardiac catheters, a procedure we have shown to stimulate prostacyclin release, thereby confounding interpretation of dr...

PRECONDITIONING IS CHARACTERIZED by a remarkable ability to adapt to ischemic stress in a variety of organs (or tissues) with the highest clinical impact in the heart and brain (10, 24). Preconditioning can be induced by several interventions such as ischemia (blockade of blood supply), rapid pacing (increased oxygen demand), or administration of pharmacological agents (pharmacological precondi...