[Study of the visco-elastic response of the aortic wall to angiotensin and noradrenaline in the conscious dog by analysis of the instantaneous pressure-diameter relation in the descending aorta].

The viscoelastic behaviour of the aorta has been studied in 7 adult non-anesthesized mongrel dogs, chronically instrumented with a microtransducer pressure (Konigsberg P7) implanted inside the aortic lumen, and 2 ultrasonic crystals diametrically opposed and fixed in the adventitia of the thoracic aorta. Pressure and diameter were analysed in terms of mean values and of systolic diastolic variations, enabling to calculate the elastic modulus of Peterson. After recovery from surgery, and under autonomic blockade by atropine and propranolol, perfusions of angiotensin and norepinephrine were performed at incremental steps of doses. In individual dogs, instantaneous pressure-diameter relationships were formed by the different pressure diameter hysteris loops obtained at each dose of the same drug; the relationships obtained with the two drugs were curvilinear and were mixed at lower pressure ranges, but at highest levels of pressures it was found, that comparatively to angiotensin curve, that of norepinephrine had shifted toward lower diameter. The percent increase in mean diameter from baseline obtained at each dose of the same drug, was positively correlated to the corresponding per cent increase in mean pressure, with angiotensin (r = 0.83 P less than 0.001), and for norepinephrine (r = 0.82 P less than 0.001), but the slope of the relation was lower with angiotensin (22.3 +/- 3.2) than with norepinephrine (12.8 +/- 1.9) (P less than 0.001); likewise, the elastic modulus, for each dose of a same drug, was positively correlated to the corresponding mean pressure for angiotensin (r = 0.53 P less than 0.01), norepinephrine (r = 0.69 P less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)