The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 25, 536-540, Copyright © 1978 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Preservation of myocardial contractility in hemorrhagic shock with methylprednisolone
G Merin, D Eimerl, S Raz, D Tzivoni and MS Gotsman
The left anterior descending or left circumflex coronary artery was
cannulated selectively in 10 dogs. Methylprednisolone, 1 mg per kilogram of
body weight, was injected into the artery and the cannula was withdrawn.
The animals were then subjected to hemorrhagic shock for 90 minutes.
Retransfusion to prestudy blood pressure was then accomplished. The
electrocardiogram, arterial blood pressure, contractile force, and first
derivative of contractile force were recorded continously both from the
areas that were pretreated and those that were not, the controls.
Contractile force in the control area was reduced to 32 +/- 3.2% of the
preshock period after 90 minutes of shock, whereas in the pretreated area
it was twice as high at the same time. Ten minutes after transfusion, the
contractile force of the pretreated area exceeded the preshock level,
whereas the recovery of contractile force in the control area reached only
70% of the preshock level. This study shows that intracoronary infusion of
methylpredisolone can afford myocardial protection in hemorrhagic shock to
a significant degree.
