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Summary:In 13 patients with sinus bradycardia, heart rate and hemodynamics were recorded before and 3,30, 60, and 120 minutes following intravenous administration of 0.5 mg ipratropiumbromide (Itropa by C. H. Boehringer Sohn, Ingelheim, West Germany). Heart rate already started to rise during the injection of ipratropiumbromide. It increased by an average of 78% three minutes following the administration as compared to pretreatment control values. Mean heart rate still was markedly increased by an average of 26% at 120 min following the injection of the drug. This effect of ipratropiumbromide on heart rate was accompanied by an increase in cardiac index while stroke volume decreased due to a decrease in ejection fraction and diastolic filling time.

The efficacy and safety of pravastatin and bezafibrate (in retard form) were compared in a randomised double-blind trial comprising 96 patients (48 men, 48 women; mean age 52.5 [20-68] years) with primary hypercholesterolaemia types IIa and IIb. After four weeks' treatment 6 out of 38 patients (400 mg/d bezafibrate) and 27 out of 58 patients (20 mg/d pravastatin) reached a LDL cholesterol level of 190 mg/dl or less. In the other 31 patients of the pravastatin group the dose was raised to 40 mg/d. During the twelve-week course of pravastatin total cholesterol concentration fell from a mean of 364 +/- 75 mg/dl (initial value) to 281 +/- 61 mg/dl (P less than 0.01), while LDL-cholesterol fell from 288 +/- 81 mg/dl to 206 +/- 64 mg/dl (P less than 0.01) and triglyceride concentration from 168 +/- 83 mg/dl to 148 +/- 80 mg/dl (P less than 0.05). During the twelve-week course of treatment with 400 mg bezafibrate total cholesterol concentration fell from a mean of 363 +/- 91 mg/dl to 325 +/- 73 mg/dl (P less than 0.01), LDL-cholesterol level fell from 284 +/- 88 mg/dl to 242 +/- 70 mg/dl (P less than 0.01) and the triglyceride concentration from 173 +/- 91 mg/dl to 121 +/- 83 mg/dl (P less than 0.01). HDL cholesterol concentration rose by 9% in the bezafibrate group and by 8.4% in the pravastatin group (P less than 0.05). Except in the case of HDL-cholesterol, the falls were significantly different in the two treatment groups: pravastatin was superior to bezafibrate in terms of the reductions in both total and LDL-cholesterol (P less than 0.01 for each). However, bezafibrate produced a greater fall in serum triglycerides (P less than 0.05). No serious side effects were associated with either drug.

The relationship between lung function data and the pulmonary artery mean pressure was investigated in 43 patients with chronic obstructive airways disease

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