[Cardiac function abnormalities and biochemical changes in myocardial ischemia].

The relationship between myocardial ischemia and biochemical changes has been well documented. For example, hyperlipidemia is one of the largest risk factors for the development of coronary artery disease. Decreased coronary blood flow produces various changes in cardiac metabolism, which cause severe cardiac function abnormalities, including heart failure and arrhythmias. Many biochemical markers have been used for both diagnosis and evaluation of the severity of myocardial infarction. In this symposium the speakers have discussed: 1) the relationship between the changes in the ionic environments in the intra- and extra-cellular spaces and the genesis of cardiac arrhythmias, with special reference to the role of increased intracellular resistance in conduction delay during ischemia (Dr. Takao Fujino), 2) metabolic basis of ECG abnormalities in ischemic heart disease and the role of intra-coronary ECG recordings in the evaluation of cardiac ischemia (Dr. Tetsunori Saikawa), and 3) biochemical changes associated with exercise and other stresses, with special reference to the roles of increased catecholamines and decreased blood fluidity in the genesis of cardiac abnormalities (Dr. Takehiko Fujino). Prof. Takeshi Kanno gave a special lecture entitled "Approaches from clinical laboratory to hereditary variants". He showed an excellent model of approach from clinical laboratory medicine to detect important biochemical abnormalities which may be overlooked by routine daily analyses in the clinical laboratory.