Incidence of Ventricular Fibrillation During Coronary Arteriography in the Rabbit

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The incidence of major ECG changes, particularly ventricular fibrillation, was evaluated in rabbits during prolonged, selective right coronary injection of sodium/meglumine ioxaglate (Hexabrix 160) and iohexol (Omnipaque 140), two isotonic contrast media. The anesthesized animals (n = 12 per test solution) each received 1.5 ml of contrast material, delivered at a rate of 3 ml/minute. Both contrast media caused major ECG changes, which were reversible within seconds after adminiatration. No fibrillation occurred with ioxaglate, but ventricular fibrillation was seen in animals given iohexol. There was a significant difference in the incidence of ventricular fibrillation between the contrast media (P < .01). Both test solutions induced transient, more or less marked bradycardia, but without significant differences. The intracoronary injections produced similar decreases in blood pressure for both contrast agents. Reactive hypertension was observed only in those animals in which an episode of fibrillation occurred with iohexol. The causes underlying these effects are analyzed for both contrast agents.