Ischaemic postconditioning: from bench to bedside ...

Summary Theincreaseintheincidenceofischaemicheartdiseaseand� acutemyocardialinfarction� (AMI)� inbothhigh-� andlow- incomecountriesnecessitatesthedevelopmentofmyocardial� salvaging/protectioninterventions,� tobeappliedalongside� standardreperfusiontherapies.�Althoughthephenomenon� ofischaemicpreconditioning� (IPC)� isassociatedwiththe� desiredprotectivecapacity,� thenecessityofitsapplication� beforesustainedischaemialimitsitsclinicalpotential. � Therecentlydescribedphenomenonofpostconditioning� (postC),�orshortcyclesofreperfusion/ischaemiaappliedat� theonsetofreperfusion,� fallswithintheclinicallyrelevant� timeperiodofreperfusion,� butcanitelicitreliableand� potentcardioprotection?�Theanswertothisproblemisinti- matelyrelatedtothequestionwhetherpostCcanbetrans- latedfromalaboratorytechniquetoaclinicaltherapy.� Inthisbriefoverviewofpostconditioning,� theexperi- mentalset-upsandpostCalgorithmsutilised, � andtheir� associatedoutcomesinallanimalmodelsstudied� (dog,� rabbit,� mouse,� ratandpig)� arediscussed.�Thetherapeutic� potentialofpostCisalsoaddressedbydiscussingreported� preliminarystudiesontheefficacyandfeasibilityofpostC� (bothischaemicandpharmacological) �inhumans.