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Updated: Mar 13, 2026
Post-Myocardial Infarction Heart Failure in Closed-chest Coronary Occlusion/Reperfusion Model in Göttingen Minipigs and Landrace Pigs
Published on: April 17, 2021
[Cardioprotection via the arm? : How a blood pressure cuff decreases infarct sizes]
P M Haller1,2, A Kiss3, J Wojta4,5
13. Medizinische Abteilung mit Kardiologie, Wilhelminenspital Wien, Montleartstraße 37, 1160, Wien, Österreich. paul.haller@meduniwien.ac.at.
Insights
Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) protects organs from injury by inducing brief ischemia/reperfusion cycles in another tissue. This review explores RIC mechanisms and clinical study outcomes, despite a lack of mortality data.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Physiology
Background:
- Cardiovascular diseases, particularly myocardial infarctions, cause significant European morbidity and mortality.
- Ischemia/reperfusion injury, leading to myocyte necrosis, is a critical aspect of myocardial infarction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce remote ischemic conditioning (RIC).
- To summarize current knowledge on RIC pathomechanisms.
- To review key clinical study results regarding RIC.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of pathomechanisms and clinical studies on RIC.
- Focus on laboratory and radiological parameters in clinical studies.
- Analysis of existing data on remote ischemic conditioning.
Main Results:
- Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) involves inducing protective effects in one organ via ischemia/reperfusion in another.
- Mechanisms underlying RIC are still not fully understood despite extensive research.
- Clinical studies have improved understanding via lab/radiological data, but large mortality studies are absent.
Conclusions:
- RIC is a promising strategy to counteract ischemia/reperfusion injury.
- Further large-scale clinical trials are needed to evaluate RIC's impact on mortality.
- Understanding RIC's mechanisms is crucial for its clinical application in cardiovascular diseases.
Abstract:
Cardiovascular diseases and especially myocardial infarctions are responsible for a high morbidity and mortality throughout Europe. An essential aspect of myocardial infarction is ischemia/reperfusion injury which represents the necrosis of myocytes following reperfusion. One possible option to counteract ischemia/reperfusion injury is the much researched process of remote ischemic conditioning (RIC), whereby a certain tissue (e.g. skeletal muscle) is subjected to several cycles of short periods (e.g. 5 min) of ischemia and reperfusion and leads to the protection of another organ (e.g. the heart). Despite substantial efforts to elucidate the underlying mechanisms during the last decades, this phenomenon is not yet completely understood. Clinical studies mainly concentrated on laboratory and radiological parameters, which led to better understanding of RIC; however, large clinical studies evaluating the possible influence on mortality are still lacking. This review article provides an introduction to RIC and summarizes the current understanding of known pathomechanisms and the results of important clinical studies.
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