Measurement of myocardial contractility in conscious rabbits

This paper describes modifications and adaptation of currently available techniques for the measurement of left ventricular diameter and pressure and their derivatives, dD/dt (the velocity of myocardial shortening) and dP/dt for the characterizing of the left ventricular contractile response of the conscious rabbit. It consists of an improved ultrasonic transit time dimension gauge together with an intraventricular catheter system. This system has been employed successfully to describe the left ventricular response to both physiological and pharmacologic interventions.