Abnormal Cardiac Rhythms Caused by Acetylcholine

Abstract
The effect of topical administration of acetylcholine on the auricular and ventricular surface of the dog's heart was studied. The experiments show the appearance of variform arrhythmias, particularly auricular fibrillation. The tendency for the development of these arrhythmias is diminished, but not abolished by atropinization. The experiments confirm previous results of the authors according to which auricular flutter is due to a rapid stimulus formation in a center. They help explain the occasional appearance of extrasystoles and paroxysmal tachycardias during vagus stimulation in experimental and clinical observations.