Effects of myocardial protection in hypertrophic rabbit hearts: structural and ultra structural analysis.

OBJECTIVE To experimentally compare the structural and ultrastructural changes in isolated hypertrophied rabbits' hearts submitted to cardiac arrest protected using sanguineous and crystalloid cardioplegia solutions. METHOD The study comprised two experimental groups and one control group. In Experimental Group I, cardiac arrest was achieved by the continuous infusion of tepid sanguineous cardioplegia solution. In Experimental Group II, cardiac arrest was obtained by an intermittent infusion of a cold crystalloid cardioplegia solution. In the Control Group the hearts were submitted to normothermic anoxic arrest for 45 minutes. After the procedures, eight samples of the left ventricle lateral wall were collected and fixed in 10% formaldehyde and 2.5% glutaraldehyde for structural and ultrastructural analysis. RESULTS The structural and ultrastructural results demonstrated that the hearts submitted to cardiac arrest protected by continuous tepid sanguineous cardioplegia, Group I, were better preserved and with less accentuated cellular alterations compared to those submitted to cardiac arrest protected using intermittent cold crystalloid cardioplegia and the Control Group. CONCLUSION Continuous tepid sanguineous cardioplegia was more efficient in the preservation of the structural and ultrastructural integrity of the myocardium when compared to intermittent cold crystalloid cardioplegia.