Milrinone, sold under the brand name Primacor, is a pulmonary vasodilator used in patients who have heart failure. It is a phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitor that works to increase the hearts contractility and decrease pulmonary vascular resistance. Milrinone also works to vasodilate which helps alleviate increased pressures (afterload) on the heart, thus improving its pumping action. While it has been used in people with heart failure for many years, studies suggest that milrinone may exhibit some negative side effects that have caused some debate about its use clinically.Overall, milrinone supports ventricular functioning of the heart by decreasing the degradation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and thus increasing phosphorylation levels of many components in the heart that contribute to contractility and heart rate. Milrinone is used as a drug that causes positive inotropy and it will lead to an increased force of contraction. Milrinone use following cardiac surgery has been under some debate because of the potential increase risk of postoperative atrial arrhythmias. However,  in the short term milrinone has been deemed beneficial to those experiencing heart failure and an effective therapy to maintain heart function following cardiac surgeries. There is no evidence of any long term beneficial effects on survival. In critically ill patients with evidence of cardiac dysfunction there is limited good quality evidence to recommend its use.Milrinone is administered IV only and eliminated unchanged in the urine. Dose adjustment is required for patients with renal impairment.
Pathergy is a skin condition in which a minor trauma such as a bump or bruise leads to the development of skin lesions or ulcers that may be resistant to healing. Pathergy can also lead to ulcerations at the site of surgical incisions. Pathergy is seen with both Behçets disease and pyoderma gangrenosum. A highly similar phenomenon known as the Koebner phenomenon occurs in autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and systemic lupus erythematosus, among others. Doctors looking toward a diagnosis of Behçets disease may attempt to induce a pathergy reaction with a test known as a "skin prick test". The inflammation and ulceration that occurs as a result of pathergy in pyoderma gangrenosum often responds to systemic steroid therapy. The pathergy reaction is a unique feature of Behçets disease and, according to the International Study Group for Behcets Disease, is among the major criteria required for the diagnosis. Different positive pathergy reaction rates in BD have been reported worldwide. When BD-positive groups are studied for pathergy reaction, the pathergy-positive and pathergy-negative BD groups showed a similar male: female ratio, age at disease onset, and mean disease duration. They also exhibited similar HLA-B51 levels and a similar frequency of oral ulcerations in close family members. The mucocutaneous manifestations, systemic disease expression, and severity score were similar in patients with and without the pathergy reaction.