TY - JOUR T1 - Plasma concentrations of adrenomedullin correlate with the extent of pulmonary hypertension in patients with mitral stenosis JF - Heart JO - Heart SP - 390 LP - 395 DO - 10.1136/hrt.78.4.390 VL - 78 IS - 4 AU - Toshio Nishikimi AU - Seiki Nagata AU - Tatsuya Sasaki AU - Shigehiro Tomimoto AU - Hiroaki Matsuoka AU - Shuichi Takishita AU - Kazuo Kitamura AU - Atsuro Miyata AU - Hisayuki Matsuo AU - Kenji Kangawa Y1 - 1997/10/01 UR - http://heart.bmj.com/content/78/4/390.abstract N2 - Objective To examine the pathophysiological significance of adrenomedullin in the pulmonary circulation by investigating the relation between plasma concentrations of adrenomedullin and central haemodynamics in patients with mitral stenosis. Methods Plasma concentrations of adrenomedullin in blood samples obtained from the femoral vein, pulmonary artery, left atrium, and aorta were measured by a newly developed specific radioimmunoassay in 23 consecutive patients with mitral stenosis (16 females and seven males, aged 53 (10) years (mean (SD)) who were undergoing percutaneous mitral commissurotomy. Results Patients with mitral stenosis had higher concentrations of adrenomedullin than age matched normal controls (3.9 (0.3) v 2.5 (0.3) pmol/l, p < 0.001). There was a reduction in adrenomedullin concentrations between the pulmonary artery and the left atrium (3.8 (0.2) v3.2 (0.4) pmol/l, p < 0.001). The venous concentrations of adrenomedullin correlated with mean pulmonary artery pressure (r = 0.65, p < 0.001), total pulmonary vascular resistance (r = 0.83, p < 0.0001), and pulmonary vascular resistance (r = 0.65, p < 0.001). Plasma concentrations of adrenomedullin did not change immediately after percutaneous mitral commissurotomy; however, they decreased significantly one week later. Conclusions Plasma concentrations of adrenomedullin are increased in patients with mitral stenosis. This may help to attenuate the increased pulmonary arterial resistance in secondary pulmonary hypertension due to mitral stenosis. ER -