Abstract

The effects of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) were examined during cardiac catheterization in 22 patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). CPAP was applied at a level of 5 cm H2O pressure. Hemodynamic measurements were made at baseline and while on CPAP. We hypothesized that patients with high left ventricular (LV) diastolic pressures would experience an increase in cardiac index (CI). To test this hypothesis, patients were divided into two groups based on their baseline pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP): one group of 11 whose PCWP was greater than or equal to 12 mm Hg (high-PCWP group) and a second group of 11 whose PCWP was less than 12 mm Hg (low-PCWP group). Among the high-PCWP group (mean PCWP +/- SEM = 19.0 +/- 2.7 mm Hg), CI rose significantly while on CPAP (from 2.48 +/- 0.26 to 2.82 +/- 0.26 L/min/m2, p less than 0.01). Stroke volume index (SVI) also rose significantly (from 52.6 +/- 7.0 to 64.1 +/- 8.0 ml/m2, p less than 0.001). In contrast, among the low-PCWP group (PCWP = 8.3 +/- 0.6 mm Hg), CI decreased significantly while on CPAP (from 3.14 +/- 0.44 to 2.89 +/- 0.62 ml/m2, p less than 0.025). SVI fell but not significantly while on CPAP (from 75.5 +/- 8.4 to 74.2 +/- 8.5 ml/m2). Multiple stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that the only significant correlate of the magnitude of change in CI in response to CPAP was baseline PCWP (r = 0.50, p less than 0.02).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)