Demonstration of lateral and epicardial border zone salvage by flurbiprofen using an in vivo method for assessing myocardium at risk.

The purposes of this investigation were (1) to develop an in vivo method of determining the myocardium at risk after experimental coronary occlusion; (2) to define the spatial geometry of the salvageable ischemic border zone; an (3) to assess the ability of flurbiprofen, an antiinflammatory agent, to protect ischemic myocardium from necrosis. Twenty-two open-chest dogs underwent left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion and were randomized to treated (flurbiprofen 1 mg/kg i.v. at 30 minutes and 4 hours after occlusion; n = 11) or control (saline; n = 11) groups. Six hours after occlusion, methylene blue, 3 ml/lg, was injected into the left atrium, and immediately thereafter the hearts were removed and sliced transversely. Areas not perfused by methylene blue (area at risk [Ar]) were traced, planimetered, and compared to the area of necrosis (An) after incubation in triphenyltetrazolium chloride. The Ar for the two groups were similar (control 28.2 +/- 2.6%; treated 25.2 +/- 2.3% of total left ventricle; NS). In control dogs, An/Ar was 96.2 +/- 0.7%, with similar values for the epicardium and endocardium. In treated dogs, An/Ar was 66.9 +/- 8.9% (p < 0.001), with greater epicardial than endocardial salvage. Topographic superimposition of the An on the Ar showed that salvage occurred both on the epicardial and lateral aspects of the infarct. We conclude that (1) the in vivo methylene blue method of assessing myocardium at risk is useful in standardizing experimental infarct size; (2) flurbiprofen, administered 30 minutes and 4 hours after occlusion, is a potent agent for reducing infarct size; and (3) salvage of myocardium occurs both at the lateral and epicardial borders of the infarct in dogs treated with flurbiprofen.