Alterations in the distribution of high-energy phosphates during ischemia in a canine model of reperfusion-induced ventricular fibrillation.

High-energy phosphate metabolites of the canine heart were analyzed before coronary artery occlusion and after 15 minutes of ischemia, and the results were then correlated with the occurrence of ventricular fibrillation upon reperfusion (RVF). Animals which developed VF upon reperfusion after 15 minutes of ischemia had lower levels of creatine phosphate and endocardial adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and increased accumulation of the catabolites of ATP metabolism, inosine and hypoxanthine. Animals which developed RVF also had lower levels of regional myocardial blood flow in the center of the ischemic zone during the period of coronary occlusion. Occluded bed size was the same in dogs which did and did not develop RVF. These data suggest that VF upon reflow is associated with more severe ischemia and an increase in high-energy phosphate catabolism during the period of ischemia.