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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Postconditioning with Lactate-enriched Blood for Cardioprotection in ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction
Published on: May 28, 2019
Pathophysiology of myocardial infarction: protection by ischemic pre- and postconditioning
Andreas Skyschally1, Rainer Schulz, Gerd Heusch
1Institute of Pathophysiology,West German Heart Center, UniversityHospital Essen, Germany.
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.
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