Effect of calcium and preischemic hypothermia on recovery of myocardial function after cardioplegic ischemia in neonatal lambs.

Hypothermia has been reported to increase intracellular ionized calcium, which may aggravate injury resulting from ischemia and reperfusion. The effects of plasma ionized calcium concentration ([Ca2+]) during hypothermic perfusion on recovery after 2 hours of cold cardioplegic ischemia were evaluated in 32 isolated, blood-perfused neonatal lamb hearts. Three groups of hearts (B, C, and D) were perfusion-cooled for 10 minutes to a myocardial temperature of 17 degrees C and then arrested with St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution. Group A had 10 minutes of normothermic perfusion before cardioplegia. Group B had cooling with normal [Ca2+]. Group C had citrate added as cooling was started to lower [Ca2+] (0.26 mmol/L), and it was not normalized until 15 minutes into reperfusion. Group D received citrate plus Ca2+ to give normal [Ca2+] during cooling. Groups B and D showed a significantly reduced recovery (p < 0.05) in left ventricular systolic function (developed pressure and the rate of pressure rise) and diastolic function (stiffness constant) than groups A and C. During preischemic cooling, oxygen consumption per beat and coronary vascular resistance increased significantly in groups B and D, but both oxygen consumption and coronary vascular resistance were significantly lower in group C than in groups B and D so long as [Ca2+] was low. The data show that preischemic hypothermia results in reduced postischemic recovery of function compared with simultaneous induction of cardioplegia and hypothermia. Low [Ca2+] during preischemic hypothermia and early reperfusion offsets this deleterious effect of hypothermia.