Hypothermia: alterations in cardiac and skeletal muscle electrolytes

¹ Department of Pharmacology, The University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

Analyses of sodium, potassium, chloride and water of cardiac and skeletal muscle were made in normal dogs, in animals cooled to rectal temperatures of 20°C, and in cooled animals receiving 25% glucose intravenously. Using these data and determinations of plasma electrolytes, muscle intracellular water was calculated. An increase in cardiac muscle potassium and in calculated intracellular water of both cardiac and skeletal muscle was noted in the cooled animals. Administering hypertonic glucose during cooling increased cardiac muscle potassium to even higher levels and calculated intracellular water of cardiac and skeletal muscle was similar to normal values.