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European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on December 8, 2004
European Heart Journal 2005 26(2):159-164; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehi023
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European Heart Journal vol. 26 no. 2 © The European Society of Cardiology 2004; all rights reserved.

Spironolactone improves lung diffusion in chronic heart failure

Piergiuseppe Agostoni*, Alessandra Magini, Daniele Andreini, Mauro Contini, Anna Apostolo, Maurizio Bussotti, Gaia Cattadori and Pietro Palermo

Centro Cardiologico Monzino, IRCCS, Istituto di Cardiologia, Università di Milano, via Parea 4, 20138 Milan, Italy

Received 26 April 2004; revised 17 September 2004; accepted 23 September 2004; online publish-ahead-of-print 8 December 2004.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +39 02 58002299; fax: +39 02 58011039. E-mail address: piergiuseppe.agostoni{at}ccfm.it

Aims To evaluate whether anti-aldosteronic treatment influences lung diffusion (DLCO) in chronic heart failure (HF) patients. Spironolactone improves clinical conditions and prognosis in chronic HF and reduces connective tissue matrix turnover; DLCO abnormalities in chronic HF are related to increase in fibrosis and connective tissue derangement.

Methods and results Thirty stable chronic HF patients, with reduced DLCO (<80% of predicted), were randomly assigned to active treatment (25 mg spironolactone daily) or placebo in addition to conventional anti-failure treatment. They were evaluated by quality of life questionnaire, laboratory investigations, cardiopulmonary exercise test, and pulmonary function test, which included DLCO and membrane diffusing capacity (DM). The evaluation was done before treatment and 6 months after. Quality of life score and standard pulmonary function tests were not significantly affected by spironolactone, while active treatment increased DLCO due to an increase of DM (DLCO: 18.3±3.9 vs. 19.9±5.5 mL/min/mmHg; DM: 28.1±7.7 vs. 33.3±8.6 mL/min/mmHg) and peak oxygen consumption (peak VO2 16.8±1.9 vs.18.6±2.2 mL/min/kg). Increments of DLCO and peak VO2 were linearly related (R=0.849, P<0.001).

Conclusion These data show a positive effect of spironolactone on gas diffusion and exercise capacity suggesting a novel mechanism by which anti-aldosteronic drugs improve HF clinical condition and prognosis.

Key Words: Anti-aldosteronic drugs • Lung diffusion capacity • Heart failure • Exercise


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