Ultrastructural evaluation of the effects of global ischemia and reperfusion on human myocardium.

During open-heart surgery, myocardial biopsies were taken from 31 patients undergoing aortic valve replacement on total cardiopulmonary bypass. The first needle biopsy was taken before the induction of cardiac arrest (Kirsch cardioplegia), the second at the end of global ischemia, and the third during the reperfusion period. The tissue was investigated by electron microscopy using a semiquantitative scoring system for changes in both myocytes and blood vessels. Mitochondrial volume and surface density were determined by morphometry. Reversible ischemic injury of moderate to severe degree occurred in cardiac cells and in small blood vessels. On reperfusion, signs of damage regressed earlier in myocardial than in vascular tissue. Morphometry revealed significant mitochondrial swelling during the reperfusion phase, but this was not present after ischemia alone. It is concluded that Kirsch cardioplegia as applied here, is unable to protect the heart from ischemic cellular damage.