Epinephrine-induced cardiac arrhythmias in rabbits exposed to tetrachloroethylene.

Control rabbits or those treated with 2,4-dichloro-6-phenylphenoxyethyldiethylamine-HBr (Lilly 18947), an inhibitor of microsomal mixed-function oxidases, were exposed to 5200 ppm tetrachloroethylene in an inhalation chamber under dynamic airflow conditions for 1 h. Even at this high concentration, tetrachloroethylene was only weakly arrhythmogenic when animals were challenged with up to 3 micrograms/kg epinephrine i.v. Unlike trichloroethylene and methylchloroform, the arrhythmogenicity of tetrachloroethylene was not potentiated by treatment with Lilly 18947.