Wenbo He, Xiaoying Wang, Shan Liu, Xiaomei Yu, Zhibing Lu, Ruisong Ma, Da Luo, Jing Xie, Bo He, Hong Jiang
PURPOSE: Individuals predisposed to vasovagal syncope may have different autonomic nervous system control mechanisms from those without predisposition to vasovagal events. To test this hypothesis, we investigated different sympathetic responses in a canine model of vasovagal syncope. METHODS: Left thoracotomy was performed on 20 mongrel dogs. The heart was exposed and a bolus of veratridine (15 μg/kg), a neurotoxin which prevents the inactivation of sodium ion channels, was injected into the left atrium to induce a Bezold-Jarisch reflex-mediated vasovagal event, characterized by bradycardia, decreased inotropism, and hypotension...
January 24, 2018: Clinical Autonomic Research: Official Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society