OBJECTIVE: Cardiac surgery in patients with pulmonary hypertension may present severe postoperative complications. The study consists of verifying the effects of using inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) in patients during the postoperative period of mitral valve surgery. METHODS: The effects of iNO were measured mainly by verifying changes in pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). Other measures performed included mean arterial pressure (MAP), mean central venous pressure (CVP), mean left atrial pressure (LAP), oxygen saturation by pulse oxymetry, and static pulmonary compliance. RESULTS: In the 20 patients studied, a median time of iNO use of 19.1 hours was obtained. The mean PAP was significantly reduced from 33.8 ± 6.17 mmHg (pre-iNO) to 29.1 ± 6.46 mmHg in the initial 30 minutes and to 28.4 ± 5.22 mmHg considering the mean of all post-iNO measures (p< 0.05). No significant changes occurred in the other hemodynamic measures. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that the use of iNO, in post-operative period of mitral valve operation associated with pulmonary hypertension, reduces PAP without systemic effects, demonstrating a selective vasodilator effect on the pulmonary vascular system.
Nitric oxide; Hypertension; pulmonary; Mitral valve; surgery
