Figure 1.

The severity of arrhythmias during a 25 min occlusion and reperfusion of the LAD in control dogs (IC; n = 10) and in dogs infused with sodium nitrite (NaNO₂+I/R; n = 10), 24 h previously. Sodium nitrite markedly reduced the total number of ventricular premature beats (VPBs), the incidence and the number of episodes of ventricular tachycardia (VT), the incidence of ventricular fibrillation (VF) during occlusion, and increased survival from the combined ischaemia and reperfusion insult. Values are means ± SEM. ^*P < 0.05 compared with ischaemic controls.