Effect of the left ventricular overload on epicardial repolarization in the rabbit

We have investigated the local durations and sequence of repolarization in the ventricular epicardium in the rabbit under the increase of the left ventricular (LV) afterload. The LV overload was produced by the 1-minute aortic stenosis up to systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg. The experiments were carried out on eight anaesthetized rabbits (urethane, 1.5 g/kg, ip). Unipolar electrograms were simultaneously recorded from 64 ventricular epicardial leads at 33 degrees C. At baseline state, the shortest activation-recovery intervals (ARIs) were observed in the right ventricular (RV) base, the longest ARIs in the LV apex and lateral wall, and ARIs of intermediate durations in the RV apex and LV base. According to ARI distribution, a significant gradient in repolarization times was observed between the apex and base (p