Water disturbances in cardiac failure.

The non-osmotic stimulation of release of arginine vasopressin (AVP) seems to be the main determinant of the impaired water excretion and hyponatraemia in patients with cardiac failure. This non-osmotic stimulation of AVP release could be secondary to a decrease in stroke volume to which the ventricular receptors respond by decreasing the vagal afferent input to the hypothalamus via the mid-brain. Improvement of cardiac stroke volume would then decrease AVP release and improve water excretion. In cardiac failure, the non-osmotic stimulation of AVP release is not clearly modulated by the renin-angiotensin system or by the atrial natriuretic peptide plasma concentration. Nevertheless, physiological concentrations of atrial natriuretic peptide could inhibit the renal epithelial water transport at the collecting duct level. Water-loading and osmotic-loading experiments in patients with cardiac failure indicated that the release of AVP is still under osmotic control and favoured the concept that volume depletion in general and cardiac failure in particular may lower the osmotic threshold and increase the osmotic sensitivity to vasopressin release. Experiments using a specific vasopressin antagonist rarely indicated a vasoconstrictor role for endogenous AVP in either experimental or clinical cardiac failure. Intrarenal factors also contributed to the impaired water excretion observed in patients with cardiac failure: increased central sympathetic efferent discharge and stimulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system would be expected as a consequence of the decreased effective arterial blood volume. These effects could then decrease maximal reabsorption of solute further impairing the ability of the kidney to excrete free water. The impaired water excretion is correlated with the severity of the cardiac deterioration and thus has prognostic implications.