Acute cardiovascular effects of diazepam in patients with mitral valve disease.

Abstract

The haemodynamic effects of an intravenous infusion of diazepam (0.027 mg/kg/min i.v. for fifteen minutes) were studied in seven subjects with mitral valve disease during diagnostic cardiac catheterization. Diazepam produced a statistically significant decrease in arterial pressure in the pulmonary artery and aorta, and a fall in the heart rate. Cardiac output and the calculated peripheral and pulmonary resistances also changed, but not in a consistent manner, and the differences were not statistically significant. Oxygen saturation in the aorta and pulmonary artery was not affected.