Systolic time intervals in canine experimental acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis

The effect of experimental acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis on hemodynamics and systolic time intervals were studied simultaneously by catheterization in dogs. Following the initial hemodynamic measurements pancreatitis was induced by a mixture of trypsin and sodium taurocholate infused into the pancreatic duct (PG, n = 7). After 60 min of surveillance the hemodynamic measurements were repeated and the results were compared to those obtained from the sham-operated group (CG, n = 7) paced at a similar contraction frequency to the PG after the follow-up time. Left ventricular ejection time (LVET) and the ratio of PEP/LVET (PEP, preejection period) increased more in the PG than in the CG (P less than 0.05 and P less than 0.001, respectively). This was related to a lower left ventricular end-diastolic volume and pressure in the PG in comparison to the CG (P less than 0.05). PEP remained unaltered in both groups during the interventions. No significant differences between the groups were observed in the responses of the maximum value of the left ventricular systolic pressure rise (dP/dtmax). The ejection fraction decreased more in the PG than in the CG (P less than 0.05), which was related to the decreased end-diastolic volume in the PG (P less than 0.001). Mean aortic pressure decreased significantly in the PG (P less than 0.01). The results indicate that experimental acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis leads to altered loading conditions of the heart and causes marked alterations in the systolic phases of the contraction cycle. This model of experimental pancreatitis does not depress the myocardial contractility on the basis of these results.