Experimental cardiac tamponade with a myocardial wound: the effect of rapid intravenous infusion of saline.

In order to demonstrate that the evolution of cardiac tamponade from a ventricular wound is different from that without myocardial wounding, the effects of a rapid infusion of saline solution on hemodynamic behavior and pericardial pressure (PP) were evaluated in dogs with cardiac tamponade caused by ventricular perforation (group C), animals without cardiac tamponade (group A), and animals with cardiac tamponade induced by infusion of saline into the pericardium (group B). We found that blood pressure (BP) increased from 107.5 +/- 15.5 mm Hg to 126 +/- 4 mm Hg in group A; increased from 64.5 +/- 17.9 mm Hg to 117.5 +/- 22.17 mm Hg in group B; and increased from 60.75 +/- 46.5 mm Hg to 76 +/- 14.4 mm Hg in group C. Central venous pressure (CVP) increased from 3.75 +/- 0.96 cm H2O to 9.5 +/- 3.3 cm H2O in group A; increased from 8 +/- 2.4 cm H2O to 16.25 +/- 3.1 cm H2O in group B; and rose from 7.75 +/- 2.6 cm H2O to 20.66 +/- 5.03 cm H2O in group C. Cardiac output (CO) increased from 3.9 +/- 1.2 L/min to 18.93 +/- 3.96 L/min in group A; increased from 1.23 +/- 0.3 L/min to 5.4 +/- 1.7 L/min in group B; and increased from 1.8 +/- 0.66 L/min to 3.53 +/- 1.31 L/min in group C.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)