Electrical stimulation of specific cardiac fat pads in dogs elicited selective parasympathetic control of either the sinoatrial node or the atrioventricular node.
In open-chest, autonomically decentralized, anesthetized dogs, a brief burst of electrical stimuli was delivered at various time delays to the right pulmonary vein (RPV) fat pad. This fat pad contains parasympathetic ganglia that innervate the sinoatrial (SA) node. Each burst elicited a bimodal increase in the cardiac cycle length (CCL) without eliciting a significant change in atrioventricular conduction time (AVCT). A similar burst was applied to the inferior vena cava-inferior left atrial fat pad. This fat pad contains nerves that innervate the AV node. This latter stimulation elicited a bimodal increase in AVCT without eliciting any change in the CCL. When the cervical vagi were stimulated in a similar manner, a bimodal increase in the CCL was elicited that was similar to the response we observed when the RPV fat pad was stimulated. In contrast, the dromotropic response was quite variable. In conclusion, we could, for the most part, elicit selective parasympathetic control of either the SA or the AV node, respectively.
Wallick et al. (Wed,) reported a other. Electrical stimulation of specific cardiac fat pads was evaluated on Cardiac cycle length (CCL) and atrioventricular conduction time (AVCT). Electrical stimulation of specific cardiac fat pads in dogs elicited selective parasympathetic control of either the sinoatrial node or the atrioventricular node.