Abstract
Background: Brief periods of reocclusion (postconditioning) during early reperfusion reduce myocardial infarct size. Whether postconditioning has an effect on lethal ventricular arrhythmias independent of infarction in an in-vivo regional ischemia model is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine if postconditioning limited reperfusion arrhythmias in a necrosis-free model.
Methods: Anesthetized rats were subjected to 5 minutes of proximal coronary artery occlusion; they were randomized to a control group (n = 15) that underwent reperfusion alone or a postconditioning group (n = 15) that received four cycles of 20 seconds reperfusion, 20 seconds reocclusion before final reperfusion.
Results: During the final reperfusion phase, ventricular arrhythmias occurred in 14 of 15 control rats and 8 of 15 postconditioning rats (
Conclusion: This in-vivo study showed that postconditioning markedly attenuates ventricular arrhythmia after regional ischemia in a noninfarct model.