Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Aug 1999
Editorial Comment ReviewTherapy of sepsis: why have we made such little progress?
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Critical care medicine · Aug 1999
Myocardial effects of ventricular fibrillation in the isolated rat heart.
Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is known to increase myocardial oxygen requirements and to alter coronary vascular physiology. However, the significance of these effects during cardiac arrest and resuscitation is not well understood. A model was developed in the isolated rat heart to investigate the myocardial effects of VF during a simulated episode of cardiac arrest and resuscitation. We hypothesized that VF would intensify the severity of myocardial ischemia and consequently accentuate postischemic myocardial dysfunction. ⋯ These findings indicate that VF may adversely affect myocardial ischemia by hastening the development of ischemic contracture, increasing coronary vascular resistance, and favoring the development of diastolic pump failure early after resuscitation from cardiac arrest.