Work as a correlate of canine left ventricular oxygen consumption, and the problem of catecholamine oxygen wasting

Neither stroke volume nor external cardiac work (the integral of pressure times flow during ejection) has been considered an important correlate of myocardial oxygen consumption. An initial set of experiments re-examined this question of independently varying heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and stroke volume in seven closed-chest, anesthetized dogs. This was achieved by cardiac pacing, a pressure control reservoir, phenylephrine infusion, and adjustment of arteriovenous shunts. Propranolol was used to minimize changes in contractility which might affect myocardial oxygen consumption. Stroke volume in the form of external work had a significant effect on oxygen consumption. From these results, a new pressure-work index of myocardial oxygen consumption was devised, and fitting parameters for the following indexes were determined: systolic pressure-rate product, estimated wall tension, external left ventricular work, triple product, mean pressure-rate product, Et (Bretschneider), and tension-time index. These indexes were prospectively applied to a second set of experiments in 11 closed-chest, anesthetized dogs given norepinephrine, isoproterenol, dobutamine, Nembutal, and propranolol to alter myocardial contractility. Inotropic oxygen wasting was observed with the tension-time, mean pressure-rate, triple product, and estimated wall tension indexes, but not with the pressure-work or systolic pressure-rate indexes. It is concluded that stroke work is an important correlate of myocardial oxygen consumption, and that the pressure-work of systolic pressure-rate indexes can account for catecholamine-induced, changes in myocardial oxygen consumption without postulating an oxygen-wasting effect.