Within the last 20 years after the beginning of emergent myocardial reperfusion for acute evolving myocardial infarction, physicians recognized that many patients developed a reperfusion injury characterized by low cardiac output. The pathogenesis of the condition in recent years has focused on the free-radical injury. The studies on this special subject were summarized in this paper. Also, timing of surgical and non-surgical interventions were discussed.
Keywords: Coronary bypass, myocardial infarction, reperfusion, reperfusion injury