Oxygen Uptake of the Nonworking Left Ventricle

Comparisons have been made in the open chest dog of the oxygen usage of the left ventricle whose external work has been reduced to zero by 4 different procedures. The average oxygen usage of the left myocardium/100 Gm./min. is about 2.0 cc. in complete arrest with vagal stimulation or with intracoronary potassium injection; 3.8 cc. in fibrillation; and 3.4 cc. in the empty but beating heart. The oxygen value in the arrested heart approximates 27 per cent of that in the control state and the uptake during vagal stoppage varies directly with the control metabolic level. In the fibrillating ventricle the higher values are related to the intensity of fibrillatory movements, and in the empty beating heart to the control metabolic rate and to the frequency of the heart beat. The experiments with vagal arrest also permit estimation of the oxygen debt of the myocardium.