Morphological hazards of deuterium oxide as a cardioplegic agent

To determine the cardio-protective effect of heavy water on the ischemic myocardium, a thoracotomy was performed on 18 mongrel dogs. The animals were connected to the extracorporeal circulation in a standardized experimental procedure. Following total cardiopulmonary bypass, 2,000 ml of a standard cardioplegic solution (LK 352) was infused at the aortic root of 10 dogs, which served as controls (group I), and the same solution containing 20% of 99.8% deuterium oxide was given at the aortic root of the remaining animals (group II). At the end of 60 minutes of ischemia, 1,000 ml of the solutions was again administered at the aortic root of the corresponding animals. Myocardial biopsies were taken from the apex of the left ventricle of each dog before cardiopulmonary bypass, immediately after the infusion of the cardioplegic solutions, following 90 minutes of ischemia, and after 30 minutes of reperfusion, and studied ultrastructurally. Whereas the ultrastructure of the myocardium of group I was well preserved at the end of the ischemic period, deuterium-oxide-treated hearts showed extensive focal and global myofilamentolysis and lysis of whole myocytes. Structural damage to glycogen, nuclear chromatin dispersal, severe intracellular edema and complete rupture of the intercalated discs were characteristic findings. At the end of ischemia, all the hearts of group I could be resuscitated. During the ischemia, all the hearts of group II developed into stone hearts. Biochemical studies on a second series showed a higher ATP depletion and a significantly higher lactate accumulation in group II than in group I.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)