[Use of intravenous nifedipine in the treatment of cardiac insufficiency in the acute period of myocardial infarction].

The efficacy of intravenous nifedipine was examined in 42 patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by congestive heart failure. In patients with a higher systemic arteriolar tone, its normalization caused an increase in cardiac output and tissue oxygen supply with a concomitant decrease in pressures in the lesser circulation and the right heart. In contrast, a cardiodepressive effect of the agent was shown in more than a half of the patients with para-normal values of peripheral vascular resistance. The latter is one of the determinants in selecting patients with acute heart failure to be treated with nifedipine.