Abstract
We attempted in two types of preparations to delinate the difference in responses to St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution between the neonatal and the adult guinea pig myocardium. Isolated guinea pig hearts were perfused with Langendorff's method and the tension of the papillary muscle of the right ventricle was recorded. Continuous infusion of St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution (37 degrees C) for 30 minutes resulted in a significantly higher elevation of the resting tension (development of contracture) in the neonatal myocardium than in the adult. The recovery of normal contractile tension after the resumption of perfusion with normal Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution was smaller in the neonate with increases in the myocardial water and calcium contents. The membrane potential of the papillary muscle preparation was recorded by means of conventional glass microelectrodes. There was no significant difference in the control values of the resting membrane potential and in the degree of depolarization during exposure to St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution between the neonate and the adult. Thus the greater elevation of the resting tension produced in the neonatal myocardium by St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution was not due to a greater depolarization of the surface membrane.
Published Version
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