Diuretics in the treatment of patients who present congestive heart failure and hypertension

Abstract

The main operational objective of diuretic therapy in patients who present congestive heart failure and hypertension is to reduce or to suppress excess bodily fluid. Effective diuretic therapy decreases cardiac size when the heart is dilated, and it reduces lung congestion and excess water. Consequently, external respiratory work diminishes and cardiac output would be redistributed in favour of systemic vascular beds other than that of the respiratory muscles; dyspnoea decreases markedly and there is a slight reduction in fatigue. This clinical improvement and the fall in body weight caused by diuretics entail an increase in effort capacity. Subsequent exercise training ameliorates the abnormal ventilatory response to physical effort and the skeletal muscle myopathy that occur in heart failure, and thereby it attenuates dyspnoea and decreases fatigue further. Loop and/or thiazide-type diuretics may be used to augment natriuresis in patients with congestive heart failure and hypertension. The state of renal function, the existence of certain co-morbid conditions, potential untoward drug actions, and possible interactions of diuretics with nutrients and with other drugs are some of the factors that must be considered at the time of deciding on the diuretic drug(s) and dose(s) to be prescribed. Spironolactone has been found to increase life expectancy and to reduce hospitalisation frequency when added to the conventional therapeutic regimen of patients with advanced congestive heart failure and systolic dysfunction. Therefore, spironolactone should be the drug of choice to oppose the kaliuretic effect of a loop or of a thiazide-type diuretic. © 2002 Nature Publishing Group. All rights reserved.