What’s New in Salvage of the Ischemic Myocardium: Estrogen Postconditioning

An Early Intervention in the Treatment of Ischemic Heart Disease, Ischemia-reperfusion injury, infarct size and the prognosis of ischemic heart disease have been challenges for cardiovascular scientists and cardiologists for decades. After extensive research and trials, scientists introduced the technique of reopening an occluded blood vessel for reperfusion of the infarcted area. This technique has saved many lives, and progression of ischemic heart disease has started to decline. Nevertheless, many scientists have expressed concern about myocardial damage caused by reperfusion itself, later identified and described as reperfusion injury. This injury has been a major setback in the use of reperfusion as a treatment. As a solution, scientists started to replace the first complete opening of the occluded blood vessel with slow or graded reperfusion of the organ concerned.