Streptokinase improves reperfusion blood flow after coronary artery occlusion

Streptokinase is an effective thrombolytic agent which, with early restoration of coronary blood flow, has the potential for limiting infarct size. Distinct from thrombolysis, we studied the effects of streptokinase on reperfusion coronary blood flow and infarct size. Open-chest anesthetized canines underwent a 90 minute snare occlusion of the left circumflex coronary artery followed by release and reperfusion through a critical stenosis for 6 hours. The animals were assigned randomly to two groups. Intracoronary streptokinase [group 1 (n = 8): 6000 IU/kg in 3 ml of saline] or saline [group 2 (n = 8): 3 ml of saline] was infused at 0.05 ml/min for 60 minutes beginning 30 minutes before reperfusion. Coronary blood flow was stable in group 1 during reperfusion, while in group 2 it fell during 6 hours of reperfusion (30 +/- 4 ml/min to 18 +/- 2 ml/min, P = 0.05). The ST-segment elevation on the limb lead II electrocardiogram 15 minutes after coronary artery occlusion was similar in both groups (group 1: 3.9 +/- 0.6 mV, group 2: 2.3 +/- 0.5 mV), suggesting the extent of myocardial ischemia was also similar in both groups. The infarct sizes were similar when expressed both as a percent of the total left ventricular mass [(IZ/LV) group 1: 17 +/- 2.5%, group 2: 17.5 +/- 2.5%] or as a percent of the area at risk of infarction [(IZ/AR) group 1: 39 +/- 6%, group 2: 39 +/- 5%]. In both groups, the mass of left ventricle dependent on the blood flow distribution of the left circumflex coronary artery was similar when compared to total left ventricular mass [(AR/LV) group 1: 41 +/- 3%, group 2: 44 +/- 4%]. These results demonstrate that streptokinase maintains reperfusion coronary blood flow through a critical stenosis at a rate similar to baseline levels. Despite the fact that coronary blood flow remained stable with streptokinase during reperfusion, infarct size was not limited after 90 minutes of fixed coronary artery occlusion in this canine model of myocardial injury.