The effect of aminophylline on cerebral blood flow in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Aminophylline has been shown to produce a reduction in cerebral blood flow (CBF) in animal models and patients with neurologic symptoms or signs. The effect of aminophylline on regional CBF (rCBF) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not previously been reported to our knowledge. We studied the effect of loading and maintenance infusions of aminophylline on CBF in five subjects with moderate to severe COPD. rCBF was determined in eight homologous regions of each cerebral hemisphere at three intervals: (1) baseline; (2) following the IV loading dose of aminophylline (6.0 mg/kg body weight); and (3) early and late in the maintenance infusion (0.5 mg/kg/hr) period. Aminophylline loading caused a 26 percent reduction (p = 0.005) in mean rCBF from 40.6 +/- 5.2 (SD) ml/100 g/min to 30.1 +/- 6.0 ml/100 g/min. A 23 percent reduction (31.5 +/- 6.9 ml/100 g/min) persisted throughout the maintenance phase. Thus, aminophylline, as customarily used in subjects with COPD, is associated with a significant reduction in rCBF.