Susceptibility of isolated rabbit hearts with various left ventricular mass to short ischemic periods

Increased left ventricular (LV) mass leads to higher sensitivity of heart to ischemic injury. This study was focused on comparison of susceptibility of rabbit hearts with different LV mass to short period of ischemia and its modification in consequence of repetition of short ischemic periods. Although higher count of arrhythmias was observed in hearts with higher LV mass during the first ischemia, decrease of total number of arrhythmias and their later onset during repeated ischemic periods were more pronounced in these hearts in comparison with hearts with low LV mass.