Cardioprotection with calcium antagonists by suppression of early ischaemia and reperfusion-induced arrhythmias.

This paper discusses the relevance of certain animal models for the production of ischaemia and reperfusion-induced ventricular arrhythmias to clinical problems of ischaemia, for example, sudden cardiac death. It then describes experiments in anaesthetised rats subjected to acute coronary artery occlusion in which nifedipine (administered both intravenously and orally) prevented the occurrence of ventricular fibrillation and markedly increased survival. In anaesthetised dogs, a continuous intravenous infusion of nifedipine reduced the severity and incidence of ventricular ectopic activity and also dramatically improved survival on reperfusion fro 12.5% (in the controls) to 88%. The mechanisms of this protection are discussed.