[Potentialities of ATP in sustaining the function of the myocardium]

The effect of ATP on the functional capacities of the isolated heart has been assessed. It has been shown that the drug at a concentration of 24 x 10(-6) M improves myocardial contractility and increases coronary flow volumetric rate. Favourable ATP effects manifested right after its administration into the circulating solution in improvement of all the physiological parameters, but were unstable. Nevertheless, the presence of ATP in the perfusate ensured high functional reserve and guaranteed stability of the isolated heart performance over 60-min observation period. The paper reviews the prospects of exogenous ATP application in cardiosurgical patients and outlines problems of drug administration techniques, as well as possible difficulties of its clinical use.