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Objective--To characterize systolic intervals of the left ventricle and their relationship with heart rate in conscious sheep. Animals--11 healthy Romanov sheep (age range, 3 months to 10 years). Procedures--Systolic intervals and indices of myocardial contractility of the left ventricle were measured in conscious sheep by use of polycardiography. Results--The mean ± SD pre-ejection period was 59 ± 12 milliseconds, and the mean left ventricular ejection time was 194 ± 34 milliseconds. The mean myocardial tension index was 0.22 ± 0.05, and the mean ratio of the pre-ejection period to ejection time was 0.30 ± 0.09. Total electromechanical systole, mechanical systole, and ejection time varied inversely with heart rate. The electromechanical delay and pre-ejection period were not correlated with heart rate, nor were the myocardial tension index and the ratio of the pre-ejection period to ejection time. The isovolumetric contraction index and isovolumetric contraction time were not significantly correlated with heart rate, although the values for the correlation coefficient,were moderate (r =-0.561 and r =-0.482, respectively). Conclusions and Clinical Relevance--Although a larger study would be needed to provide reference intervals for healthy sheep, the results of the study reported here provided useful information for the cardiac evaluation of sheep. (Am J Vet Res 2009;70:330-333) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Alterations in the recovery sequence of hypertrophied myocardium favour the development of cardiac arrhythmias. The aim of the present study was to investigate apex-to-base and interventricular heterogeneities in the duration of epicardial ventricular repolarization in rats with renovascular hypertension., Method: Renovascular hypertension was induced in six Wistar rats by constricting the left renal artery for one month. Six sham-operated Wistar rats served as normotensive controls. Epicardial mapping was performed using 32 unipolar leads distributed over the apex and base of the heart ventricles under sinus rhythm. Activation-recovery intervals (ARIs) were calculated from electrograms., Results: The ratio of left ventricular weight to body weight was increased in hypertensive rats compared with controls. In control rats, ARIs at the base of both ventricles were shorter than those at the apex. In hypertrophied hearts, ARIs were prolonged on both the left and right ventricular epicardium. Heterogeneous prolongation was observed via reduced apex-to-base differences in ARIs and increased interventricular differences, with a trend toward increasing dispersion of ARIs. In rats with renovascular hypertension, nonuniform prolongation of epicardial ARIs on both ventricles and the changes in the ARI distribution resulted in a reduction of the repolarization time gradient between the ventricles., Conclusion: Nonuniformly prolonged ARIs across the ventricular epicardium and the interventricular electrical inhomogeneity in rats with renovascular hypertension should be considered when interpreting the T wave alterations together with the reduction of the transmural and apex-to-base repolarization gradients.