The role of nerves in the production of cardiac arrest during surgical anaesthesia
Srivastava, S.; Srivastava, R.D.; Kumar, S.; Sinha, K.N.
Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 20(1): 27-32
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-5499 PMID: 773818 Document Number: 107670
The role of cardiac nerves in the production of cardiac arrest during surgical anesthesia on coronary ligated hypoxic heart was studied. When atropinized coronary ligated dogs were exposed to hypoxia the terminal event was a cardiac asystole in 88% of the dogs. In propranolol treated dogs, or in dogs where sympathetic ganglia up to T6 were bilaterally removed earlier, coronary ligation and hypoxia produced ventricular extrasystoles, ventricular tachycardia and repeated sinus arrest followed by ventricular fibrillation. The possibility of the origin of arrythmia from the damaged myocardium and the presence of an intact vagus in the production of ventricular fibrillation are discussed.