In a canine model, hypothermia increases the mechanical efficiency of the heart without impairing aerobic energy conversion.
The oxygen uptake of the denervated dog's heart doing constant work in a modified HLP appears to vary logarithmically with temperature between 36 and 26 C. Under these conditions hypothermia increases the mechanical efficiency of the heart. It is concluded that cold does not interfere with the conversion of aerobic energy into useful work done by the myocardium.
Badeer et al. (1956) studied this question.