CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM OF THE HEART DURING VENTRICULAR FIBRILLATION

Abstract

The dog heart was perfused in the closed system devised by Locke and Rosenheim. Arrangements were made to fibrillate the ventricles by an electrical stimulus and to recover a normal beat by the use of a few cc. of 3% KC1. It was thus possible to divide an experiment into three periods, before, during and after fibrillation. Samples of the perfusate were taken at the beginning and end of each period and analyzed for sugar by Benedict''s method. During each period the escaping gas was passed through soda-lime and the C02 production determined gravimetrically. The values obtained for sugar consumption and CO2 production are relative but they are consistent in showing that the metabolism of the heart is appreciably increased during ventricular fibrillation.