Thermographic evaluation of myocardial protection

According to Bretschneider (1980), optimal myocardial protection can be achieved with myocardial temperatures below 15°C. Myocardial temperature can be determined by thermistor needles or by infrared (IR) imaging; the latter method has the advantage of showing the whole anterior-anterolateral myocardial surface instead of providing data on small areas of the myocardium. Inhomogeneous temperature distribution due to occluded or severely stenosed coronaries can also be easily visualized with IR imaging. The aim of our study is to thermographically evaluate the adequacy of myocardial protection using Bretschneider cold antegrade cardioplegia (CP) in patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or aortic/mitral-valve implantation.