ABSTRACT
To assess the acute effects of methylene blue infusion, an inhibitor of nitric oxyde synthesis, on hemodynamic parameters in patients with refractory septic shock. Fourteen patients admitted to intensive care units with septic shock of diverse etiologies and unable to maintain median arterial pressures over 60 mm Hg with the use of at least 2 vasoactive drugs, were studied. All received a 1 mg/kg bolus of methylene blue. Hemodinamic parameters were measured before and 30, 60, 120 and 180 min after the bolus. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure and systemic vascular resistance increased in all patients. There were no significant changes in cardiac output, oxygen consumption or extraction. Methylene blue has an acute pressor effect in patients with septic shock
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , Guanylate Cyclase/antagonists & inhibitors , Methylene Blue/pharmacology , Nitric Oxide/antagonists & inhibitors , Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome/drug therapy , Vascular Resistance/drug effects , Vasoconstrictor Agents/pharmacology , Hemodynamics , Blood Pressure , Central Venous Pressure , Clinical ProtocolsABSTRACT
Inhalation therapy with nitric oxide has been suggested as beneficial in the adult respiratory distress syndrome, however there are few reports of its prolonged use. We report a patient with a chronic lymphocytic leukemia that developed an adult respiratory distress syndrome with severe hypoxemia, refractory to conventional therapeutic measures, during the course of a septic shock. The patient received nitric oxide (19 ppm) improving arterial oxygen saturation and allowing the reduction of FiO2 to 40 percent. The patient died 5 days later due to a multiple organ failure