Effect of Respiratory Acidosis on Cardiac Rhythm during Chloroform Anesthesia

　Respiratory acidosis induced either by 15％ carbon dioxide or apneic oxygenation during 1％ chloroform anesthesia produced ventricular arrhythmias. When the arterial hydrogen ion concentration was maintained within normal range by THANE infusions during hypercarbia, chloroform-carbon dioxide arrhythmias were not observed.

　When the animals were pretreated with cate-cholamine depleting doses of reserpine, respi-ratory acidosis did not produce ventricular arrhythmias during chloroform anesthesia.