Functional reactivation of the hypothermic heart after potassium arrest

¹ Carter Physiology Laboratory, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas

Myocardial function in the dog heart-lung preparation was studied during essentially normothermic conditions and during hypothermia. With the circulating blood at between 26 and 28°C. ventricular fibrillation produced by faradic stimulation of the left ventricle was arrested by the retrograde injection of 2% potassium chloride. The administration of 50% fructose was found to be a highly effective means of reducing the circulating potassium levels and reestablishing normal cardiac irritability. Large amounts of potassium and glycogen were deposited in the myocardium. No gross indications of impairment were observed in the restored cardiac function as a result of fibrillation, arrest, or the transient alterations in potassium and fructose concentrations.