Abstract
The renin-angiotensin system is frequently activated in patients with congestive heart failure. In experimental heart failure this activation appears to be an early phenomenon that abates after sodium retention has led to volume expansion (1). In clinical heart failure, however, activity of the renin-angiotensin system appears to be unrelated to volume status. Plasma renin activity is elevated in some patients who are taking diuretics and in others who have been withdrawn from diuretics (2). Its degree of elevation appears to have only a weak relationship to the severity of the hemodynamic abnormality (3). The most striking correlation with plasma renin activity has been the level of serum sodium. Hyponatremic subjects present almost invariably with exceedingly high plasma renin activity, whereas in those whose serum sodium is within the normal range plasma renin activity is either normal or only modestly elevated (4).
Supported in part by PHS Grant HL 22977 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
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References
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© 1983 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Cohn, J.N., Levine, T.B., Pierpont, G. (1983). Early Experience with Captopril in Congestive Heart Failure. In: Just, H., Bussmann, WD. (eds) Vasodilators in Chronic Heart Failure. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68605-4_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68605-4_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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