Figure 1. Cell length of individual rat heart cells exposed to volatile anesthetics. The cells were field stimulated to beat at a rate of 0.5 Hz. Each vertical deflection represents the extent of shortening (or twitch amplitude) of each beat: The deeper downward deflections represent greater twitch amplitude. Each record shows a different cell during the early moments of its exposure to anesthetic-containing solution. Anesthetic concentrations were 0.40 mM halothane (0.8 vol%), 1 mM enflurane (1.9 vol%), and 0.54 mM isoflurane (1.4 vol%).