title: Effects of procainamide on the dispersion of recovery of excitability during coronary occlusion.
abstract: In 14 mongrel dogs, refractory periods were determined in nonischemic and acutely ischemic zones of myocardium during control conditions, 15 minutes after coronary ligation, and 10 and 20 minutes after a procainamide infusion. Following coronary ligation, refractory periods in the nonischemic area remained unchanged (100.8% of control) while in the ischemia area they decreased to 88.6% of control (P less than 0.02) causing a dispersion of refractoriness of 12.2%. After the administration of procainamide, refractory periods lengthened in the nonischemic as well as in the ischemic areas but the changes were such that the temporal dispersion caused by the coronary ligation was reduced from 12.2% to 5.5% (P less than 0.01) after 10 minutes, and to 5.0% (P less than 0.02) after 20 minutes of drug infusion. It is concluded that procainamide exerts different overall effects on the nonischemic and acutely ischemic canine myocardium. It is postulated that this action may play a role in the suppression of re-entrant arrhythmias.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000187:drug effects; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D011342:Procainamide / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012032:Refractory Period, Electrophysiological / Q000187:drug effects*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011342:Procainamide