Myocardial function following thermal injury.

Abstract

Several investigators have suggested that a defect in myocardial function occurs in the dog following severe thermal burn. A study was therefore undertaken in which myocardial contractility was measured before and after burn. The left ventricular function curve was used as an index of contractility. Ventricular function was measured immediately before and 30 minutes following 30 per cent body surface area burn in 25 dogs, and before and after a sham burn in 13 control dogs. It was found that the burn produced a significantly greater impairment of myocardial contractility than did the sham burn. The mechanism by which the burn produced this alteration in contractility was not apparent from the results of this study.