The effects of propofol on Doppler echocardiographic values of the aorta, main pulmonary artery, and mitral E wave in New Zealand white rabbits

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of propofol on acceleration time (AT), ejection time (ET), AT / ET ratio obtained from the aorta (Ao) and main pulmonary artery (MPA) and Doppler echocardiographic values of mitral E wave (E) in New Zealand white rabbits. Echocardiographic evaluation was performed in 40 conscious rabbits and repeated after propofol administration. The baseline mean values were 0.028±0.006 second (s) for Ao-AT, 0.116±0.017 s for Ao-ET, 0.24±0.036 for Ao-AT / ET, 0.05±0.01 s for MPA- AT, 0.137±0.018 s for MPA-ET, 0.38±0.037 s for MPA-AT/ET, 84.13±18.26 cm/s for E peak velocity, 3.06±1.38 mmHg for E peak pressure, 0.069±0.018 s for E duration, 0.046±0.015 s for E deceleration time (Edec). After propofol administration, the decrease in velocity (P = 0.044, 90.76±14.39 vs. 83.04±12.24) and peak pressure gradient (P = 0.036, 3.47±1.01 vs. 2.98±0.77) of Ao wave, as well as left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) was statistically significant (P < 0.001, 70.1±4.47 vs. 63.2±3.79, 37.85±3.74 vs. 32.15±2.43, respectively); AT was longer (P < 0.05) and AT/ET was increased (P < 0.001) in both Ao and MPA. Among Doppler echocardiographic parameters of the E wave, there was only a statistically significant difference for Edec (P = 0.008). In the presented study, while the effect of propofol is minimal on Edec, its effects on aortic and pulmonic AT/ET values, as well as EF and FS values, should be taken into consideration.