Medical problems of surgical patients. Hypertension and ischaemic heart disease.

Pre-existing disease in the form of hypertension or ischaemic heart disease may increase morbidity and mortality in patients presenting for anaesthesia and surgery. The interaction of these two cardiovascular conditions in relation to anaesthesia has been studied in a series of 115 patients. The results did not support the view that antihypertensive drugs and beta-receptor blocking agents should be withdrawn before anaesthesia and surgery. The main cause for concern in providing anaesthesia for these patients is that sympathetic nervous activation induced either by anaesthetic manoeuvres or by surgical stimulation may lead to reflex cardiovascular responses which, by increasing myocardial oxygen demand, lead to episodes of myocardial ischaemia. In this respect beta-receptor blocking drugs appear to have a protective effect on the ischaemic myocardium.