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Long-term intracoronary ethanol administration electrophysiologic and morphologic effects
E Patterson1, K J Dormer, B J Scherlag
1Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City.
Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.)
|September 1, 1987
Summary
Long-term intracoronary ethanol infusion caused myocardial injury and cardiac rhythm disturbances in dogs. This study suggests ethanol can create an electrophysiologic substrate for ventricular arrhythmias.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Cardiac Electrophysiology
- Toxicology
Background:
- Ethanol's potential to induce myocardial injury and cardiac rhythm disturbances is not fully understood.
- Intracoronary ethanol administration is a model for studying localized cardiac effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the potential of long-term intracoronary ethanol infusion to cause myocardial injury and cardiac rhythm disturbances.
- To investigate the electrophysiologic changes in the canine heart following ethanol administration.
Main Methods:
- Twenty-two dogs underwent electrophysiologic testing 48 hours after ethanol cessation.
- Histologic examination assessed myocardial lesions.
- Purkinje fiber electrophysiology was compared between ethanol-treated and control zones.
Main Results:
- Spontaneous and provoked ventricular arrhythmias were observed in multiple dogs.
- Ethanol-treated Purkinje fibers showed decreased resting membrane potential, action potential amplitude, and upstroke velocity.
- Histologic findings ranged from myofibrillar degeneration to local scarring.
Conclusions:
- Intracoronary ethanol administration at human abuse levels induces histologic and electrophysiologic injury in the canine heart.
- The observed electrophysiologic changes create a substrate for ventricular arrhythmias.