pubmed-article:11465550 | pubmed:abstractText | The effects of thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) on myocardial repolarization and arrhythmogenicity are only incompletely understood. This is primarily because of the lack of appropriate experimental models. In most of the studies performed thus far, TEA was used in anesthetized animals. Baseline anesthesia itself may have modified the effects of TEA. This study investigates right atrial and ventricular repolarization by recording monophasic action potentials after TEA in awake dogs. The authors hypothesized that an antiarrhythmic role of TEA exists, which may be related to a direct effect of TEA on myocardial repolarization. | lld:pubmed |