Preconditioning and preservation of myocardial viability
Ovize, M.
Archives des Maladies du Coeur et des Vaisseaux 90(Special Issue 4): 13-16
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-9683 PMID: 9382692 Document Number: 474231
Preservation of myocardial viability is a major objective of modern cardiology. Many patients develop large infarcts with major functional consequences in the short and long term. Too many still develop progressive left ventricular dysfunction for which cardiac transplantation, with all its limitations, is the only therapeutic possibility. It is therefore essential to prevent or delay the extension of necrosis. Preconditioning is a natural form of protection which delays the development of myocardial necrosis. A great deal of research is under way to understand this complex process of cardiac protection with the objective to develop pharmacological agents able of simulate or to reproduce its effects in the clinical setting.