Myocardial function in septic sheep.

There is an ongoing discussion whether the heart is the primary target organ responsible for the development of cardiovascular failure during septic shock as well as its onset. We tried to study the reaction of the heart to sepsis in the early phase of 8 h, using a sublethal model of sepsis in six awake cross-bred Austrian mountain sheep. Sepsis was induced by infusion of a live Escherichia coli suspension at a dose of 5 x 10(7) colony-forming units per kg body weight over 8 h. Standard hemodynamic, hematologic and serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF) measurements were obtained. For evaluation of left ventricular performance we used the following methods, tested in five pilot experiments: 1) The shift of the end-systolic pressure-diameter relation. This was characterized by the calculated shift of the transverse external end-systolic diameter of the left ventricle at a "midrange" end-systolic pressure of 100 mmHg (end-systolic ventricular diameter deviation, ESVDD100). Calculations were performed using a second order regression function of the end-systolic pressure diameter points obtained by variation of afterload by a cuff occluder on the aorta; 2) The shift of the (dP/dt)max over end-diastolic diameter ratio compared to control values estimated by a graphical approach. Mean pulmonary pressure increased from 21 +/- 1 to 36 +/- 2 mmHg in the first hour after starting the E. coli infusion and remained elevated during the entire 8 h observation period. Serum TNF was found to peak 1 hour after start of E. coli infusion and was hardly detectable after 3 hours of bacteremia. Mean aortic pressure showed minor changes (maximum 105 +/- 3 mmHg, minimum 91 +/- 2 mmHg) and there were no statistically significant alterations of the cardiac index. ESVDD100 showed an "oscillatory" reaction in the first phase and a statistically significant decrease of contractility in the second phase (at 4 h). This was confirmed by the graphical method of the (dP/dt)max over end-diastolic diameter ratio. We may therefore conclude that there is no early depression of myocardial function or if so, it may be masked by adrenergic stimulation. In the later phase of the 8 h experiment there is a significantly decreased contractility of the heart. This may be compensated (e.g., "Starling" mechanism or heart rate increase) in this sublethal model.