Death in Neonatal Calf Diarrhoea. Pt. II: the Role of Oxygen and Potassium

In an attempt to find an explanation for the arrhythmias observed in acidotic, diarrhoeic dying newborn calves, measurements were made of oxygen carriage by the blood and myocardial potassium content. It was found that there was no significant lowering of the oxygen content as a result of acidosis but that there was a marked lowering of myocardial potassium. It would appear that the lower than normal myocardial potassium, together with a higher than normal extracellular potassium, would provide a basis for alterations in depolarization and hence the arrhythmias observed in such calves.