The global myocardial extraction of lactate was measured in 13 halothane anesthetized dogs to assess the effect of electric countershock applied directly to the heart. Seven animals received two countershocks of 30 delivered joules each, while six animals were not shocked but were atrially paced to a rate of 190-200, both with and without occlusion of the vena cava to produce a mean arterial pressure of 40-50 mmHg. All animals had substantially positive lactate extraction in the baseline state (36 +/- 10% for countershock group vs. 41 +/- 3% for pacing group). Myocardial lactate extraction reached a markedly negative nadir 2.5 min after countershock (-19 +/- 15%), but returned toward normal by 6 min (10 +/- 6%). Lactate extraction was not significantly changed from baseline in the pacing group. The relationship between changes in regional myocardial blood flow (radiolabeled microspheres) and post-countershock myocardial damage (technetium pyrophosphate uptake) was assessed in six dogs shocked as above. Mean myocardial blood flow was increased minimally immediately after countershock (0.78 +/- 0.08 ml X min-1 X g-1 vs. 1.16 +/- 0.3), but there was no difference in blood flow between damaged and undamaged tissue at either time point. The epicardial-to-endocardial ratio of blood flow was unchanged after countershock (0.97 +/- 0.05 vs. 0.99 +/- 0.08). There was no relationship between myocardial damage and either the absolute amount of blood flow after countershock (r = -0.03) or the change in blood flow compared with the pre-shock period (r = 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)