Abstract: Objective To explore the correlation between serum potassium levels and the changes of the heart, the real-time echocardiography was applied to monitor the effects of hypokalemia on the heart structure and function of the experimental rabbits, and for the purpose of early diagnosis and treatment in the clinical practice. Methods The hypokalemia experimental model was established by intramuscu-lar furosemide injection. M-mode echocardiography was used to monitor the cardiac morphology，the sequential variation of flow spectrum and cardiac function. After that, the heart was removed and the tissue was made into pathological section and dyed with HE. Results The cardiac morphology and function of the rabbits showed little change during the early and middle stage. Then, the heart dilated rapidly, and its function decreased until cardiac arrest. The myocardial pathological section showed swell and vacuolization of the myocardial cells. Conclusion There were a series of changes in the heart of rabbit during the decreasing process of serum potassium concentration, and echocardiography is a noninvasive method to monitor these changes, it can observe the heart morphology and evaluate the cardiac function accurately in real time. Thus, echocardiography provides a convenient and reliable method for monitoring the heart complications induced by hypokalemia.

Key words: Hypokalemia, Echocardiography, Cardiac function, New Zealand rabbit