Does myocardial revascularization after a 3-hour acute coronary occlusion reduce infarct size in pigs compared to permanent ligation?
Revascularization after 3 hours of coronary occlusion in a pig model does not reduce infarct size and may cause haemorrhagic infarction.
In a comparative study in pigs the extent of myocardial infarction has been estimated following a temporary three hour coronary occlusion and following a permanent coronary ligation. For evaluation of the cellular injury the infarct size has been determined by a histochemical staining procedure and correlated with serum enzyme studies (creatine phosphokinase, alpha-hydroxybutyric dehydrogenase) in the surviving animal. No significant difference could be detected between the two experimental groups and the extent of cellular damage was similar. A strict linear correlation was found between the serum enzyme activity plotted logarithmically and the morphological infarct size. Likewise the incidence of ventricular fibrillation depended on the extent of cellular injury. Myocardial revascularization does not appear to benefit a pig heart subjected to an acute coronary occlusion lasting three hours or more. Revascularization may even be harmful by creating a haemorrhagic infarct, as found in all the animals submitted to a transient coronary occlusion.
Althaus et al. (Sun,) studied this question.