title: Bretylium tosylate and electrically induced cardiac arrhythmias during hypothermia in dogs.
abstract: The effect of bretylium tosylate on plasma catecholamines and on electrically induced arrhythmias was evaluated in anesthetized hypothermic dogs. Bretylium at a dose of 7.5 mg/kg was administered prior to cooling from 37 degrees C to 27 degrees C. During cooling, the ventricular arrhythmia threshold (VAT) in control animals decreased from 10.1 +/- 1.9 to 4.4 +/- 1.3 impulses, while the VAT in bretylium-treated animals increased from 9.8 +/- 2.9 to 23.2 +/- 2.7 impulses. Catecholamine levels increased during cooling in all animals. In control animals, the epinephrine/norepinephrine ratio was unchanged, but in animals treated with bretylium tosylate, the ratio increased more than 10-fold (from 0.48 +/- 0.1 to 5.49 +/- 0.32 at 29.9 degrees C). The demonstrated increase in catecholamine levels during hypothermia suggests that the protection offered by bretylium tosylate against cardiac arrhythmias is not explained by modification of catecholamine levels, and is more likely due to an alteration of the electrophysiologic properties of cardiac tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, New York University Medical Center/Bellevue Hospital Center, New York 10016.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orts
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alcaraz
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Delaney
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Goldfrank
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Turndorf
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Puig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001950:Bretylium Tosylate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004285:Dogs; D004298:Dopamine / Q000097:blood; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004594:Electrophysiology; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000097:blood; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D007035:Hypothermia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001950:Bretylium Tosylate; D004298:Dopamine; D009638:Norepinephrine; D004837:Epinephrine