Is ATP-sensitive K+ channel (K+ATP) recruitment a common mechanism for ECG-ST segment depression and elevation?

ATP sensitive (K(+)(ATP)) potassium cardiac channels are recruited when ATP levels are low as in ischemic injury and acute trauma. Such activation results in ECG-ST elevation and cardiac arrhythmias. K(+)(ATP) channel recruitment may be blocked by the sulfonylurea glibenclamide, permitting a wide variety of animal experimentation designed to test the genesis of ECG-ST segment elevations and depressions in diverse conditions including digitalis effect, acute arterial occlusion, tachycardias, and acute pericarditis. A specific series of animal experiments designed to test this hypothesis is proposed. Clinical implications are discussed.