Synchronized diastolic coronary venous retroperfusion: results of a preclinical safety and efficacy study.

The safety and efficacy of a new clinical synchronized diastolic retroperfusion mechanical pump and autoinflatable balloon catheter was studied in 10 dogs during and after 6 hours of left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion. Eight other dogs served as the untreated control group. Infarct size measured by triphenyltetrazolium chloride, and expressed as a percent of area at risk, was significantly reduced by retroperfusion treatment (19 +/- 18 versus 58 +/- 36, p less than 0.01). Morphologic examination of the coronary sinus and cardiac veins did not demonstrate evidence of damage from synchronized retroperfusion. There was also no evidence of excess myocardial edema in either the jeopardized ischemic or normally perfused zones. There was no evidence of significant red cell hemolysis or platelet destruction from the treatment. Thus, it appears that synchronized diastolic retroperfusion is a safe and effective treatment of acute myocardial ischemia in experimental animals and warrants clinical testing.