ABSTRACT. A left to right shunt increases myocardial work and is often accompanied by increased catecholamine levels. Because both increased myocardial work and increased catecholamine levels may induce increased fatty acid utilization, which could increase resting myocardial oxygen consumption and therefore unfavorably affect coronary reserve, we studied myocardial uptake of glucose, pyruvate, lactate, &OH-butyrate, acetoacetate, FFA, and triglycerides in 12 7-wk-old lambs with aortopulmonary left to right shunts (58 f 2% of left ventricular output, mean f SEM) and in 10 control lambs 2 wk after surgery. Despite the shunt, systemic blood flow in the shunt lambs was maintained at the same level as in the control lambs. This was accomplished by an increased heart rate and stroke volume. Furthermore, the shunt was accompanied by an increased myocardial oxygen consumption in the shunt lambs (834 f 70 versus 528 f 43 pmol 02-mine' -100 g-I; p c 0.05). There were no significant differences in arterial substrate concentrations between the two groups. The same was true for arteriovenous differences across the myocardium, with the exception of lactate, which was substantially higher in shunt than in control lambs (72 f 25 versus 18 f 23 pmol/L; p < 0.05). As a consequence, myocardial lactate uptake in the shunt lambs was increased 15-fold (18 2 6 versus 1 f 2 pmol. min-I. 100 g-I; p c 0.02), whereas uptake of the other substrates merely paralleled the increased myocardial blood flow. Our data demonstrate that myocardial substrate uptake is not substantially different between shunt and control lambs, with the exception of lactate, of which the extraction is 10-fold higher than in control lambs. We speculate that the increased myocardial lactate utilization may reflect an increase of lactate and pyruvate dehydrogenase activities. A left to right shunt through a ventricular septa1 defect or ductus arteriosus imposes an increased work load on the heart because of its effect on left ventricular wall stress, external work, contractility, and heart rate (1-3). This effect is accompanied by an increased myocardial oxygen consumption (3), which reflects increased oxidation of substrates to meet the increased ATP demand (4). Often, an increased work load leads not only to increased substrate uptake, but also to a change in the pattern of myocardial substrate utilization (5), as has been shown in hearts with increased afterload (6), contractility (7), and thyroxineinduced volume load (8, 9) and during exercise (5,(10)(11)(12). Furthermore, catecholamines are often increased in the presence of a substantial left to right shunt (13), and they are also known to affect myocardial metabolism (14,15). Through their effect on myocardial performance, catecholamines stimulate glucose and fatty acid utilization by the myocardium, and, through activation of lipoprotein lipase, they enhance fatty acid utilization (5, [14][15][16].These considerations suggest that a left to right shunt could lead to a change in myocardial substrate metabolism....