Background: To develop cardioprotection against peri-operative myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, we need animal models where the local metabolism and blood flow are studied concomitantly with the global circulatory consequences during regional coronary occlusion.
Methods: In six anesthetized domestic pigs, the largest branch of the circumflex artery was occluded for 30 min. Microdialysate was sampled from the ischemic and non-ischemic myocardium along with continuous measurements of local coronary artery flow, global hemodynamics and registration of arrhythmias, from baseline through to 30 min of ischemia and 180 min of reperfusion.
Results: During ischemia, the microdialysate glucose concentration decreased, the glycerol concentration increased and the lactate/pyruvate ratio increased significantly. For glycerol, there was a further increase at reperfusion. During ischemia, cardiac output was unchanged; however, during reperfusion there was a significant drop lasting for several minutes, longer than the period in which an increased number of arrhythmias were registered.
Conclusion: The present study demonstrates deranged circulation and arrhythmias corresponding to ischemic metabolism after regional myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. Reperfusion induced more pronounced circulatory changes than the actual ischemia. A substantial increase in myocardial glycerol release seems to be a marker of ischemic metabolism and may prove to be an indicator of reperfusion injury.