0000000001107753
AUTHOR
E J Morcillo
Palliative Treatment of Dyspnea With Epidural Methadone in Advanced Emphysema
This study investigated whether epidural methadone perfusion at the thoracic level can mitigate dyspnea in patients with advanced emphysema.Open-label clinical trial without a control group.University hospital.The inclusion criteria were a diagnosis of emphysema, basal dyspnea index (Mahler scale)or = 3, FEV(1)or = 35%, and no indication for pneumoreduction or lung transplantation surgery.An epidural catheter was inserted at the thoracic level connected to a perfusion pump for administering methadone (6 mg/24 h). Assessments were made at baseline, 1 week, and 1 month after catheter insertion.Pulmonary function tests were performed, and determinations were made of arterial blood gas levels, …
Calcium antagonist properties of cinnarizine, trifluoperazine and verapamil in guinea-pig normal and skinned trachealis muscle.
In guinea-pig trachealis, depolarized by a K(+)-rich medium, Ca2+ (0.01-10 mM) caused concentration-related spasm. Verapamil (0.5-5 microM), cinnarizine (10-100 microM) and trifluoperazine (16-160 microM) each produced concentration-dependent antagonism of Ca2+ characterized by a rightward and downward displacement of the log concentration-effect curve for Ca2+. The rank order of potencies of these antagonists, measured as the IC75 against Ca2+ (10 mM)-induced contraction of depolarized trachea, was verapamil (5.6 microM) greater than cinnarizine (59 microM) greater than trifluoperazine (91 microM). In skinned trachea, verapamil in concentrations up to 100 microM did not modify the concentr…