The “oxyradical hypothesis” of myocardial stunning proposes that superoxide, released on reperfusion, leads to contractile dysfunction via the production of the more reactive hydroxyl free radical from the iron catalysed Haber-Weiss reaction. However, superoxide reacts many times faster with nitric oxide (NO), than with ferric iron, leading to the formation of peroxynitrite (ONOO), which is a p...

Background Stunned myocardium reflects postreperfusion dysfunction in myocardium that is destined to ultimately fully recover. Most investigators attribute postreperfusion stunning to a primary defect in excitation-contraction coupling or to an altered sensitivity of the myofilaments to calcium. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the interrelation between myocardial perfusion, oxidati...

21 21 Brief periods of ischaemia, are known to induce a shifts of the p[Ca ] /Mg -ATPase curves induced by 21 reversible deficit in myocardial function despite the Ca sensitizer as observed with isolated myofibrils from maintenance of histological and metabolic integrity, a stunned pig myocardium [6]. Moreover, another group 21 phenomenon initially described by Heyndrickx et al. in found a decr...

A 58 year old woman presented with symptoms and electrocardiographic features consistent with acute infero-posterior myocardial infarction. The attempt at reperfusion with aspirin and thrombolytic treatment was deemed unsuccessful in view of Q wave development on ECG, a 48 hour period of hypotension and oliguria, and extensive wall motion abnormality on echocardiography. This was at variance wi...

Coronary artery dissection is a quite unusual but eventually lifethreatening complication, and most cases occur as an immediate adverse event after cardiac catheterization [1, 2]. Mostly, it affects the right coronary artery, due to its anatomical disposition [3]. Rarely it can affect the LMCA (1% of all procedures), as happened in the case reported, and it can have fatal consequences if the ad...