BACKGROUND Despite several randomised controlled trials, there is still much debate whether nimodipine improves outcome in patients with traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage. A 2003 Cochrane review reported improved outcome with nimodipine in these patients; however, because the results of Head Injury Trial (HIT) 4 were only partly presented there is still discussion whether patients with traumat...

Nimodipine and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were tested (alone and in combination) regarding their ability to increase hypoxic tolerance of brain slices under 'hypoxic' (deprivation of oxygen) or 'ischemic' (hypoxia+withdrawal of glucose) conditions. Direct current (DC) and evoked potentials were recorded in the CA1 region of hippocampal slices of adult guinea pigs. After induction of hypoxia or i...

Calcium antagonists may be of significant benefit in the pharmacotherapy of cerebral ischemia, possibly by improving postischemic cerebral blood flow (CBF). This study evaluated the effects of the calcium antagonist nimodipine on CBF in a newborn beagle pup model of perinatal asphyxia lasting 5 minutes. Immediately after the asphyxial episode, nimodipine (2 micrograms/kg/min) or saline was infu...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE A randomized, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial of placebo versus nimodipine was conducted to test the hypothesis that nimodipine would reduce the frequency of death and of worsening by 30% compared with placebo. METHODS Nimodipine was used in doses of 60 mg, 120 mg, and 240 mg daily in 1,064 patients treated for 21 days. Treatment was begun within 48 hours of st...

Nimodipine and its solvent containing ethanol were tested in a randomized in vivo study by local administration to the outer vessel wall surface of pial arteries and veins in 15 anesthetized cats. Reactions were studied through a cranial window. Diameter variations of 90 arterial and 78 venous vessel segments were continuously analyzed using a multichannel videoangiometer. The solvent alone cau...

OBJECTIVE To establish whether nimodipine, a calcium channel blocker, accelerates or otherwise improves functional recovery of whisking after facial nerve crush injury in the rat. METHODS Thirty rats underwent exposure of the left main trunk of the facial nerve followed by a standard crush injury and subsequent quantitative facial movement testing. Animals were randomized into an experimental...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the role of intra-arterial (IA) nimodipine injections for cerebral vasospasm secondary to ruptured subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and to investigate the factors that influence vasodilation and clinical outcomes. METHODS We enrolled 29 patients who underwent aneurysm clipping for ruptured cerebral aneurysms between 2009 and 2011, and who received...

Whole-cell and cell-attached patch recording have been used to characterize multiple types of voltage-dependent calcium channels in neurons freshly dispersed from rabbit dorsal root ganglia. In whole-cell patch recordings, high-threshold current, strongly resistant to inactivation by depolarized holding potentials (L-type; V1/2 = -27.2 mV), was potently inhibited by nimodipine. Assuming 1:1 bin...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Nimodipine, a calcium antagonist, has been reported to have beneficial effects in acute ischemic infarction. Some calcium channel antagonists have antiplatelet effects. We investigated the effect of oral nimodipine on platelet function in healthy volunteers. METHODS Twelve healthy volunteers (6 men and 6 women, mean age 32.9 +/- 5.6 years) took 30 mg nimodipine every 6 ...