Initial hemodynamic responses to mild exercise in trained dogs

The transient changes in cardiac output at the onset of mild exercise were measured in dogs trained to walk on a treadmill. Cardiac output was obtained using a krypton 85 infusion method, which permitted frequent determinations of flow. The first go sec of exercise were marked by a prompt rise and overshoot of heart rate and cardiac output, whereas increases in stroke volume occurred later after the onset of exercise, and to a lesser extent than heart rate. At rest, the right atrium was electrically driven at rates slightly faster than heart rates attained spontaneously with exercise and the studies repeated. Changes in cardiac output with exercise were similar to those in unpaced animals, but when the heart rate was fixed stroke volume increased immediately. These studies show a consistent rise in heart rate and cardiac output in the initial reaction to exercise, but when the prompt rise in heart rate was prevented by pacing from the right atrium, increases in stroke volume provided a comparable response...