Nitrous oxide administration and hemodynamics.

EDITORIALS 211 inotropic agents (such as the catecholamines, calcium ions, and digitalis), and paired electrical stimulation. Entropy also increases during congestive heart failure, which may be thought of as an expression of a defect in the utilization of energy, a partial chemicomechanical uncoupling. The entropy of the myocardial cell tends to be reduced by negative inotropic agents, such as the $adrenergic blocking drugs, as well as by antidysrhythmic drugs. It is also reduced by direct-current conversion of dysrhythmias, during hibernation (either natural or induced), during hypothermic or chemical cardiac arrest, by cardiopulmonary bypass, or during the use of mechanical cardiac assistance.