Myocardial temperature in acute myocardial infarction: protection with mild regional hypothermia

temperature in acute myocardial infarction: protection with mild regional hypothermia. Am. J. Physiol. 273 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 42): H220-H227,1997.-This study tests the hypoth-esis that a 2-4°C reduction in myocardial temperature, obtained by using topical regional hypothermia (TRH), re-duces infarct size. Anesthetized rabbits received coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion. We cooled hearts in the TRH group by applying an ice bag directly over the risk zone; the control group received no intervention. Risk zone myocar-dial temperature (MT) in the TRH group was reduced at occlusion by 2°C from baseline and after 5 min of occlusion by 3.6”C. In the control group, MT in the risk region remained within 0.3”C of baseline. The ischemic area was similar in both groups, yet infarct size in the TRH group was reduced by an average of 65 % compared with the control group. Infarc