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One of the most important problems during cardiac surgery is the prevention and treatment of hypertension, occurring in 40-60% of the patients following coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS). Hypertension should be avoided to prevent myocardial damage, neurologic complications, increased blood loss, and premature graft closure due to intimal damage. During and following cardiac surgery hypertension is routinely treated with vasodilating agents, which generally induce reflex tachycardia and increased intrapulmonary shunting. The results obtained with ketanserin, a specific S2-serotonergic receptor blocker with alpha 1-adrenergic receptor blocking properties, in the prevention and treatment of hypertension in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, are presented. Ketanserin effectively lowers blood pressure by decreasing systemic vascular resistance but does not completely prevent perioperative and postoperative hypertension when administered as a continuous infusion from the start of anesthesia. In contrast to sodium nitroprusside, ketanserin does not induce reflex tachycardia in the treatment of postoperative systemic hypertension following CABS. The compound improves diuresis and perfusion of the skin perioperatively. Ketanserin is devoid of rebound phenomena after its administration is stopped. It is postulated that the antihypertensive effect of ketanserin can be explained by its property of simultaneously blocking alpha 1-adrenergic and S2-serotonergic receptors.

The effect of thymopoietin pentapeptide (TP-5) was evaluated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Ninety-two patients were divided into 3 groups, namely, placebo, TP-5 intramuscularly (IM) 1 mg, TP-5 intravenously (IV) 50 mg, and were evaluated for 6 measures of disease activity at the beginning of the study and at 3 and 6 months. No difference was observed between the placebo group and the group treated with TP-5 IM 1 mg. However, in the group treated with TP-5 IV 50 mg a statistically significant improvement of all parameters except the ESR was observed.