Myocardial reperfusion injury: an assessment by the spasm of resistance vessel concept of ischemic heart disease.

Myocardial reperfusion injury will be discussed in context to the spasm of resistance vessel concept of ischemic heart disease. This hypothesis attributes symptoms in this disorder directly to primary spasm of resistance vessels, and is based in part on a study of no-reflow which provided evidence that no-reflow is due to ischemia-induced injury-spasm of resistance vessels. Studies of no-reflow and reperfusion injury are rather similar, and the concept asserts that ischemia-induced injury-spasm causing no-reflow is involved in reperfusion injury. It is recognized that oxygen free radicals cause both myocardial and vascular injury during reperfusion injury, and the concept suggests that vascular injury contributes significantly to reperfusion injury by inducing the sequence of injury-spasm, no-reflow, fresh ischemia, and fresh ischemic reperfusion injury. In keeping with this, the possible involvement of spasm and no-reflow in reperfusion injury occasionally is mentioned. However, it seems to be generally accepted that reperfusion injury is due essentially solely to direct myocardial injury by free radicals, and possible reasons will be explored for a relative disinterest in spasm and no-reflow in reperfusion injury.