Cardiac dysfunction after acute endotoxin administration in conscious sheep

We evaluated cardiac function in an unanesthetized ovine model of hyperdynamic endotoxemia. The animals were instrumented for crystallographic dimension analysis of the left ventricle (LV) and measurement of LV, aortic, atrial, central venous, and pulmonary arterial pressures, and cardiac output. Seven sheep received 1.5 μg/kg of Escherichia coli endotoxin [lipopolysaccharide (LPS) LPS-P group] and were compared to a sham group. The sham group demonstrated no significant change in any of the variables. In the LPS-P group, the cardiac index increased (5.7 ± 0.4 to 7.9 ± 0.6 l·min^-1·m^-2) between 8 and 12 h after LPS. Concomitantly, the maximum elastance of LV end-systolic pressure-volume relations significantly decreased (2.88 ± 0.27 mmHg/ml) compared with baseline (3.89 ± 0.50 mmHg/ml). Other indexes of the LV contractility (maximum pressure development and ejection fraction) were also reduced. There was a simultaneous increase in the LV end-systolic and diastolic volumes. These findings confirm the hypothesis that there is a myocardial depression during LPS in the ovine model.