Effect of transient coronary occlusion on coronary blood flow autoregulation, vasodilator reserve and response to adenosine in the dog

Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego.

Myocardial ischemia of short duration (15 to 20 min) produces myocardial "stunning" during reperfusion. The vasoregulatory and contractile status of reperfused myocardium during normal and reduced perfusion pressures is of interest in the treatment of patients with unstable angina. In the present study the effects of 15 min of reversible ischemic injury on several aspects of coronary vasoregulation were assessed with use of pressure-flow curves in anesthetized open chest dogs. The left anterior descending coronary artery was cannulated and perfused with arterial blood with use of a servo-controlled roller pump. The autoregulatory gain and an adenosine dose-response curve for coronary flow before and after ischemia and reperfusion were obtained. The maximal autoregulatory gain values in the pressure range of 140 to 60 mm Hg were not significantly different before and after ischemia and reperfusion (0.41 +/- 0.08 vs. 0.5 +/- 0.06, p greater than 0.1). The adenosine dose-response curve was significantly shifted to the right after reperfusion; however, coronary blood flows during maximal adenosine vasodilation over a large range of perfusion pressures (140 to 60 mm Hg) were significantly greater after ischemia and reperfusion. The pressure-dependent decrease in segment shortening (sonomicrometry) over the coronary pressure range of 160 to 30 mm Hg was similar in myocardium before and after stunning. Contractile function in the stunned myocardium at normal (100 mm Hg) and low (40 mm Hg) coronary perfusion pressures was similarly and significantly enhanced by the administration of adenosine. It is concluded that 1) coronary autoregulation is unchanged after brief ischemia and reperfusion; 2) although maximal coronary vascular conductance assessed with adenosine is greater after ischemia, the coronary circulation shows a decreased coronary sensitivity to exogenous adenosine; 3) the relation of contractile function to coronary pressure before and after stunning is unchanged; and 4) enhancement of function in stunned myocardium by vasodilation with adenosine occurs at low and normal perfusion pressures.

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