The Electrical Activity of the Heart and Brain Under Acute Experimental Anoxia: The Protective Effect of Polarizing Solutions

Acute anoxia was produced in 80 dogs under anesthesia with sodium pentobarbital. Respiration was maintained with a Palmer's pump through an endotracheal tube. The anoxia was produced by stopping the pump and occluding the endotracheal tube. Polarizing solution (glucose-potassium-insulin) was perfused in 40 of the animals, starting three hours prior to the anoxia. The remaining 40 dogs comprised the control group. Peripheral electrocardiograms, as well as electroencephalograms, were simultaneously recorded before and during the period of anoxia. Recordings were continuously obtained until no more than one ventricular complex in a ten-second period was observed, even though the electrical brain activity had disappeared by this time. Our present experimental work suggests the beneficial effect of polarizing solutions by delaying the anoxic degradation of the electrical phenomenon of the heart and the brain.