Medicina 2002; 38 (8): 797-800

Linas Nasvytis, Edmundas Širvinskas

Institute for Biomedical Research, Kaunas University of Medicine, Lithuania

Key words: myocardial protection, methods of cardioplegia, cardiosurgery.

Summary. The remarkable advances in cardiac surgery over the last 50 years have led to the concept of “routine” open heart surgery.The introduction of novel surgical technologies, methods of anesthesiology and intensive care allowing for a reduction morbidity and mortality at perioperative period.The development of intraoperative myocardial protection has been impressive too. A tremendous body of literature has documented the physiologic basis of current cardioprotective methods and debate over the optimal technique. We tried to review current trends and future perspectives of myocardial protection in this article.

Received 3 September 2001, accepted 18 March 2002