Clinical Investigations: PDF OnlyNegative chronotropic factor in patients with fungemiaROSENFELD, BRIAN A. MD; BOSNJAK, ZELJKO J. PHD; SHAPIRO, RICHARD M. MD; DORMAN, TODD MD; LIGIER, BRUNO MD; BRESLOW, MICHAEL J. MD, FCCM Author Information From the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD and The Department of Anesthesiology and Physiology, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI. Critical Care Medicine: March 1992 - Volume 20 - Issue 3 - p 327-331 Buy Abstract Objective To study the effect of serum from patients with fungemia and control patients on sinoatrial node function. Design Prospective, observational study. Setting Surgical ICU in a university hospital. Patients Fourteen patients with fungemia and 14 control patients. Measurements and Main Results Serum samples from all patients were assayed in an in vitro sinus node preparation. Serum samples from 11 (78%) of the 14 fungemic patients caused a decrease in sinus node activity, while serum samples from only one (7%) of 14 control patients caused slowing of the sinus node. Conclusions Serum from many patients with fungemia causes slowing of an in vitro sinus node preparation. This in vitro finding may explain bradyarrhythmias seen clinically in the setting of fungemia. © Williams & Wilkins 1992. All Rights Reserved.
