The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of intracoronary administration of dl-propranolol on coronary blood flow and regional myocardial function in anesthetized open-chest dogs. The results were compared with those obtained with d-propranolol, atenolol and lidocaine. Bolus intracoronary injections of dl-propranolol (0.02-2 mg) dose dependently produced transient increases in coronary blood flow and subsequent depression in regional segment shortening which qualitatively resembled those produced by the dextro isomer (0.02-2 mg) and lidocaine (0.2-10 mg). Atenolol (up to 2 mg) was almost devoid of these effects. Isoproterenol-induced responses were abolished by dl-propranolol and atenolol but only incompletely blocked by d-propranolol. These results demonstrate that propranolol at high doses has direct coronary vasodilating and cardiodepressant effects in situ, and indicate that the major part of these effects can be attributed to the membrane-stabilizing action rather than beta-adrenoceptor blockade.