Total body oxygen consumption and haemodynamics during the treatment of acute ischaemic heart failure with dopamine and high doses of insulin in dogs.

Acute ischaemic left ventricular failure was induced in closed-chest anaesthetized dogs by injection of 50 microns plastic microspheres into the left main coronary artery. This effected a 33% decrease in cardiac output. Dopamine and high doses of insulin restored cardiac output, and these agents in combination raised cardiac output to 34% above pre-ischaemic levels. Total body oxygen consumption was calculated at the various levels of cardiac output, and was found to remain essentially unchanged. Inotropic agents, then, may result in overperfusion with respect to oxygen demand.