A stable model of left ventricular dysfunction in an intact animal assessed with high fidelity pressure and cinemagnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Halothane anaesthesia in dogs pretreated with large amounts of propranolol and appropriate muscarinic cholinergic blockade produces a moderate decrease in baseline systolic and diastolic function in our intact dog model. However, left ventricular systolic function showed limited contractile reserve when challenged by physiological increases in systemic arterial pressure. Impaired systolic and diastolic function may, at least in part, be related to diminished activator calcium produced by halothane in addition to the well known negative inotropic action of beta adrenergic blockade.