Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2012
Mild hypothermia decreases arrhythmia susceptibility in a canine model of global myocardial ischemia*.
Although the majority of sudden cardiac arrests occur in patients with ischemic heart disease, the effect of therapeutic hypothermia on arrhythmia susceptibility during acute global ischemia is not well understood. While both ischemia and severe hypothermia are arrhythmogenic, patients undergoing therapeutic hypothermia do not have an increase in arrhythmias, despite the fact that most sudden cardiac arrest occur in the setting of ischemia. We hypothesized that mild hypothermia induced prior to myocardial ischemia and reperfusion will have a beneficial effect on ischemia-related arrhythmia substrates. ⋯ Mild hypothermia attenuated ischemia-induced increase in dispersion of repolarization, conduction slowing, and block, which are known mechanisms of arrhythmogenesis in ischemia. These data suggest that therapeutic hypothermia may decrease arrhythmogenesis during myocardial ischemia.