Coronary and myocardial adaptations to high altitude in dogs.

The objective of this study was to determine whether exposure to high altitude (hypoxic hypoxemia) induces coronary and/or collateral growth. Fourteen mongrel dogs were maintained at a simulated altitude of 18,000 ft for 1 mo and 7 dogs maintained for 3 mo. Within 2 days after their sojourn, the following data were obtained at ambient pressure: pulmonary, right heart chamber, and wedge pressures as well as cardiac output. On an isolated heart preparation, coronary and collateral flows were determined; each vessel was injected with a different color tracer; and the heart was sliced, separated by perfusion territories, and examined for myocardial hypertrophy. We found that pulmonary artery pressures in altitude-adapted animals were higher compared with controls, and coronary flow per gram was increased after 1 mo of exposure but not different from control after 3 mo. Collateral flows were not significantly different from that of control animals, and biventricular hypertrophy occurred with right ventricular dominance. Comparing these results with those that we obtained previously from anemic animals, we favor the hypothesis that oxygen availability rather than blood flow velocity is most likely linked to vascular growth.

Hemodynamic effects of long term feeding of sympathomimetic amines to swine.

The hemodynamic effects of long term feeding of sympathomimetic amines (SPMA) to swine were studied. Three groups of female swine (N = 20 for each group) were fed either aminorex fumarate, d-amphetamine sulfate, or dextrose (control) for as long as 8 months in dosages up to 15 mg/kg/day. After 4 months of this feeding regiment, the weight gain of the pigs fed either aminorex or amphetamine was significantly less than the control animals. Hemodynamic measurements on awake swine indicated no elevation of pulmonary arterial blood pressure in the pigs fed SPMA. Measurement of systemic hemodynamics revealed that cardiac index was lower in the treated pigs than in control animals, but that heart rate and systemic arterial blood pressure were not altered by the drugs. In addition to baseline measurements of hemodynamic variables, the animals were exposed to acute hypoxia (12 percent O2 in N2) for 5 minutes. Although pulmonary arterial blood pressure increased similarly in the 3 groups of pigs, total pulmonary resistance increased to a greater extent in the pigs fed SPMA, indicating perhaps an enhancement of the hypoxic pulmonary pressor response after chronic ingestion of either amphetamine or aminorex. In a limited number of pigs, SPMA were fed for a period of 8 months, of which the last 3 months were during pregnancy. Hemodynamic measurements on sedated (metomidate, IV) swine revealed no difference in pulmonary arterial blood pressures between treated and control animals. We conclude that chronic ingestion of large doses of aminorex or amphetamine in swine does not lead to pulmonary arterial hypertension, but that slight reductions in cardiac output and subtle alterations in the pulmonary pressor response to acute hypoxia may occur.