Structural myocardial changes after coronary artery surgery

Background Postoperative contractile dysfunction or 'myocardial stunning' h as been described after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). In the pres ent study we sought to determine if and to what extent clinical, structural and histochemical evidence of myocardial changes associated with stunning could be found in patients after CABG and cold crystalloid cardioplegia. Materials and methods Left ventricular (LV) biopsies were obtained from CAB G patients (n = 10) prior to and at the end of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) . These biopsies were immunostained for the inducible heat-shock protein 70 (HSP-70i), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and actin. ATP was m easured by bioluminescence. Results Biopsies pre-CPB showed no evidence of myocardial damage as HSP-70i was absent and a regular actin cross-striation pattern and only constituti ve ICAM-1-expression were present. After CPB we found significantly increas ed HSP-70i and ICAM-1 levels as well as a deranged actin cross-striation pa ttern with a widening of actin bands. ATP levels declined from 10 mmol L-1 pre-CPB to 4.9 mmol L-1 after CPB. Correspondingly, coronary sinus effluent showed a significant lactate production. Although, cardiac function determ ined by transoesophageal echocardiography did not deteriorate, significant inotropic support was necessary to maintain cardiac output. Conclusions Our results present clinical and structural evidence of 'myocar dial stunning' after CABG and cold crystalloid cardioplegia. Increased HSP- 70i and ICAM-1 expression, as well as a deranged actin cross-striation patt ern, might be structural markers to determine 'myocardial stunning' in clin ical settings.