Scandinavian journal of clinical and laboratory investigation
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Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. · Jul 1997
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialEffect of bolus injection versus continuous infusion of furosemide on diuresis and neurohormonal activation in patients with severe congestive heart failure.
Previous studies have demonstrated that continuous infusion of furosemide results in increased diuresis and natriuresis compared with bolus administration of the drug in patients with severe heart failure. We reasoned that continuous infusion of furosemide caused less activation of neurohumoral mechanisms, since other studies have shown that bolus administration of furosemide may activate this system. We therefore tested the hypothesis that continuous administration of furosemide would increase water and sodium excretion due to less activation of neurohormones. ⋯ Neither regimens of furosemide caused any further significant changes in neurohumoral response except that pro-ANF decreased more during the first 8 h after bolus administration compared to continuous infusion. This study has demonstrated that bolus administration of furosemide in conventional doses is equally effective as continuous intravenous infusion in patients with severe heart failure. This may be due to maximal neurohormonal activation in severe heart failure (NYHA III-IV) which could not be further activated by bolus administration.