Abstract
The injection of 5 cc. of metallic mercury into a leg vein of adult unanesthetized dogs produces a marked dilatation of the right heart chambers a very few minutes after reaching the right heart and arterial side of the pulmonary circuit. There is a great disproportion between the objective symptoms and the severity of the lesions wrought in the thoracic viscera. The first symptoms that usually follow the above procedure are gastro-intestinal in nature; vomiting and defecation occur, usually within one-half hour or hour after the administration of the metal. Tachypnea or dyspnea rarely appear early, and frank respiratory symptoms are usually in abeyance for some hours. The survival period of more than 20 animals averages 35 hours.
The electrical axes computed from synchronous leads and from single axial leads that satisfy the Einthoven formula do not show significant axis deviation. There is an anomalous wide splitting of the T-wave in many curves. Paroxysmal auricular fibrillation was noted in the electro-cardiograms of several animals.
The relatively heavy weight of the metal in the right heart hardly enters as a factor in the interpretation of the curves as the heart empties itself usually quite completely of the metal after a few minutes. It is thought that the acute heart dilatation results from a partial obstruction in the arterial side of the pulmonary circulation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.