title: Pathophysiology of myocardial infarction: protection by ischemic pre- and postconditioning.
abstract: One or several short cycles of ischemia/reperfusion before (preconditioning) or after (postconditioning) a sustained coronary occlusion with subsequent reperfusion reduce the ultimate infarct size. The protection is potent, but limited to a narrow time frame. In animal experiments, a complex signal transduction cascade was identified which results specifically in a reduction of reperfusion injury. There is evidence for both ischemic pre- and postconditioning in patients with coronary artery disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathophysiology,West German Heart Center, UniversityHospital Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skyschally
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Heusch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D019157:Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D015428:Myocardial Reperfusion Injury / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology