BACKGROUND: Arginine vasopressin (AVP) has been broadly used in the management of vasodilatory shock. However, there are many concerns regarding its clinical use, especially in high doses, as it can be associated with adverse cardiovascular events. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the cardiovascular effects of AVP in continuous IV infusion on hemodynamic parameters in dogs. METHODS: Sixteen healthy mongrel dogs, anesthetized with pentobarbital were intravascularly catheterized, and randomly assigned to: control (saline-placebo; n=8) and AVP (n=8) groups. The study group was infused with AVP for three consecutive 10-minute periods at logarithmically increasing doses (0.01; 0.1 and 1.0U/kg/min), at them 20-min intervals. Heart rate (HR) and intravascular pressures were continuously recorded. Cardiac output was measured by the thermodilution method. RESULTS: No significant hemodynamic effects were observed during 0.01U/kg/min of AVP infusion, but at higher doses (0.1 and 1.0U/kg/min) a progressive increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) were observed, with a significant decrease in HR and the cardiac index (CI). A significant increase in the pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI) was also observed with the 1.0U/kg/min dose, mainly due to the decrease in the CI. CONCLUSION: AVP, when administered at doses between 0.1 and 1.0U/kg/min, induced significant increases in MAP and SVRI, with negative inotropic and chronotropic effects in healthy animals. Although these doses are ten to thousand times greater than those routinely used for the management of vasodilatory shock, our data confirm that AVP might be used carefully and under strict hemodynamic monitoring in clinical practice, especially if doses higher than 0.01 U/kg/min are needed. Martins, LC et al.