Does remote ischemic conditioning salvage left ventricular function after successful primary PCI?

The translation of ischemic preconditioning to a viable therapy that benefits patients has been slow. This has been largely due to the difficultly in preempting when ischemia will occur. Recent advances in the field have demonstrated that cardioprotection from brief episodes of ischemia is possible when applied immediately after reperfusion (ischemic postconditioning) or remotely in another tissue during myocardial ischemia, prior to reperfusion (remote ischemic conditioning). This has facilitated the therapeutic application to patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction. In this article, we will discuss the results of a recent study published by Munk et al., concerning the application of remote ischemic conditioning during primary percutaneous coronary intervention to salvage myocardial function following ST-elevation myocardial infarction.