Prevention of myocardial depression in experimental hemorrhagic shock by pretreatment with hydrocortisone.

The left anterior descending or left circumflex coronary artery was cannulated in ten dogs. 4 mg/kg hydrocortisone were slowly infused and the cannula was withdrawn. The dogs were then subjected to hemorrhagic shock for 90 minutes followed by retransfusion. The contractile force (CF) and its first derivative (df/dt) were measured in the pretreated (infused) area and in a control (non-perfused) area of the left ventricle. During the shock period, CF and df/dt in the non-pretreated area showed a 50% reduction in comparison to the pre-shock level, whereas the contractile force in the area that had been pretreated with hydrocortisone did not change when compared to the pre-shock period. This study shows that myocardial depression secondary to hemorrhagic shock can be effectively prevented by pretreatment with hydrocortisone.