Intravenous Adenosine and Lidocaine in the Limitation of Infarct Size:Preliminary Safety Data

Reperfusion injury has been defined as “those metabolic, functional and structural consequences of restoring coronary arterial flow… that can be avoided or reversed by modification of the conditions of reperfusion” {1}. The adverse consequences of reperfusion with unmodified whole blood may be manifest as reversible injury (an injury that reduces the functional efficiency of myocardium without causing cell death) or lethal reperfusion injury (an injury that results in “the death) of myocytes, alive at the time of reperfusion, as a direct result of some aspect of the process of reperfusion” {2}. Although controversial, the existence of reperfusion injury is suggested by several lines of animal investigation.