Table 2. Surface electrocardiographic parameters, intracavitary electrograms recordings, and electrophysiological properties of endocardial cells in sham-operated and in pressure-overloaded rats treated with Valsartan or placebo for 12 weeks after surgery.

	SHAM (N=10)	SHAM+VAL (N=10)	LVH (N=12)	LVH+VAL (N=10)
HR, bpm	437±38	434±49	399±61	392±49
RR interval, ms	138±11	140±16	155±33	155±19
PVC, counts/hr	255±165	360±162	1200±180*	650±200#
QRS duration, ms	11.2±0.8	11.4±1.0	15.1±1.3*	12.0±0.8
QRS amplitude, mV	2.0±0.1	2.0±0.2	3.2±0.3*	2.8±0.2#

Values are expressed as average ± SEM. SHAM, rats undergone left lateral thoracotomy only; SHAM+VAL, rats undergone left lateral thoracotomy and treated with valsartan 10 mg/kg/die; LVH, rats undergone aortic banding; LVH+VAL, rats undergone aortic banding and treated with valsartan 10 mg/kg/die; HR, heart rate; bpm, beats per minute; RR interval, length between two consecutive ventricular depolarizations; PVC, premature ventricular contractions; ms, milliseconds; mV, milliVolts. Analysis of variance has been used in data analysis. *p<0,05 vs. all; ^#p<0,05 vs. SHAM and SHAM+VAL.