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Biomedical subjects

L C Becker

Publications and source records attributed to L C Becker.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Influence of site of regional ischemia on nonischemic thickening in anesthetized dogs.

The effect of varying the site of acute regional ischemia on nonischemic myocardial function was examined by comparing regional thickening during 2-3 min circumflex (Circ) vs. left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery occlusions in eight open-chest dogs. Cross-sectional midwall two-dimensional echocardiograms were obtained, and systolic thickening was measured at 16 equal-spaced points around the circumference. The distribution and extent of hypoperfusion was assessed by radiolabeled microspheres. The echo slice was subdivided into a hypoperfused region (Hypo), four adjacent nonischemic regions (ADJ1-4), and the remaining remote segments (Remote). The extent of hypoperfusion (%LV mass) was similar with both sets of occlusions (LAD, 29.4 +/- 2.8%; Circ, 26.0 +/- 4.4%; P = NS), as was endo- and epicardial flow in the nonischemic regions. Yet, even with like-sized Hypo regions, thickening of nonischemic myocardium was significantly greater during Circ than during LAD occlusions (P less than 0.001). These results are consistent with recently reported disparities of global functional impairment during LAD vs. Circ ischemia. The responses likely reflect differences in regional wall geometry, loading, and the three-dimensional distribution of coronary hypoperfusion between the two vascular territories.

Anesthesia↗

Neutrophil depletion limited to reperfusion reduces myocardial infarct size after 90 minutes of ischemia. Evidence for neutrophil-mediated reperfusion injury.

Reperfusion of ischemic myocardium may accelerate necrosis of injured myocytes. To determine the role of neutrophil leukocytes in this process, we examined whether neutrophil depletion during reperfusion could modify infarct size in anesthetized dogs. The proximal circumflex coronary artery was occluded for 90 minutes and then reperfused for 2 hours via an extracorporeal circuit with either whole blood (n = 11) or with blood depleted of neutrophils by leukocyte filters (n = 11). The leukocyte filters caused near-total neutropenia in blood reperfusing the ischemic myocardium (7 +/- 7 neutrophils/microliters compared with 2,551 +/- 317/microliters in controls, mean +/- SEM; p less than 0.001. Infarct size was measured by planimetry of myocardial slices stained with triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), and the accuracy of TTC for identifying necrotic myocardium was verified by electron microscopy. The size of the ischemic risk region was the same in the control (41.6 +/- 1.0%) and neutropenic (41.8 +/- 2.1%) groups. Collateral blood flow to the risk region was the same in control (0.15 +/- 0.03 ml/min/g) and neutropenic (0.13 +/- 0.03 ml/min/g) groups. Among dogs with collateral flow less than 0.2 ml/min/g, infarct size was reduced in the neutropenic group (27.7 +/- 6.7% of risk region, n = 8), compared with control dogs (52.5 +/- 5.7%; n = 7; p = 0.02). Multiple linear regression described the relation between infarct size, risk region size, and collateral flow in the control group, and the same regression relation was used to predict infarct size for the neutropenic group. Mean predicted infarct size in the neutropenic group (n = 11) was 16.8 +/- 3.4% of left ventricle, whereas mean observed infarct size was 9.6 +/- 3.1% (p less than 0.01). The extent of the no-reflow zone (absence of thioflavin-S-fluorescence) was also less in the neutropenic than the control group (2.2 +/- 0.8% vs. 8.1 +/- 2.7% of the risk region, p less than 0.05). Neutropenia limited to the reperfusion period is associated with significant reductions in the extent of the infarct and no-reflow zones after 90 minutes of ischemia. These findings support the hypothesis that reperfusion necrosis occurs after prolonged myocardial ischemia and indicate that neutrophil leukocytes are important mediators of such reperfusion injury.

Animals↗

Progressive impairment of regional myocardial perfusion after initial restoration of postischemic blood flow.

The "no-reflow" phenomenon, the occurrence of areas with very low flow in hearts reperfused after ischemia, is thought to be largely established at the time of reperfusion as a result of microvascular damage induced by ischemia. In the present study we sought to determine whether additional impairment of tissue perfusion might also occur during the course of reperfusion. Open-chest dogs were subjected to 90 minutes of left circumflex coronary artery occlusion and reperfused for 2 minutes (n = 7) or 3.5 hours (n = 8). Myocardial perfusion was visualized in left ventricular slices following in vivo injection of the fluorescent dye thioflavin-S just before killing. The area of impaired perfusion (absent thioflavin) averaged 9.5 +/- 3.0% of the risk region in dogs reperfused for 2 minutes, whereas it was nearly three times as large in dogs reperfused for 3.5 hours (25.9 +/- 8.2% of the risk region, p less than 0.05). Serial measurements of flow by microspheres during reperfusion demonstrated zones within the postischemic myocardium that were hyperemic 2 minutes after reperfusion, with adequate flow still present at 30 minutes, but with a subsequent marked fall in perfusion. After 3.5 hours these areas showed negligible flow (0.13 +/- 0.3 ml/min/g) and no thioflavin uptake. Tissue samples showing postischemic impairment in perfusion has received virtually no collateral flow during ischemia (less than 0.01 ml/min/g), whereas collateral flow was significantly higher in adjacent thioflavin-positive zones (0.04 +/- 0.01 ml/min/g in endocardial samples and 0.07 +/- 0.02 ml/min/g in samples from the midmyocardium, p less than 0.001 vs. thioflavin-negative areas). Areas that showed late impairment of flow invariably demonstrated contraction band necrosis, which contrasted with the pattern of coagulation necrosis observed in areas of "true" (i.e., immediate) no-reflow. Intracapillary erythrocyte stasis and marked intravascular neutrophil accumulation (to levels greater than 20-fold that found after 2 minutes reperfusion) were typically observed in areas of delayed impairment to flow. Obstruction to flow at the capillary level was confirmed in additional dogs in which the heart was injected postmortem with silicone rubber to delineate the microvascular filling pattern. Areas of absent capillary filling were much more extensive after 3.5 hours than after 2 minutes reperfusion. Thus, this study shows that the occurrence of areas of markedly impaired perfusion in postischemic myocardium is related only in part to an inability to reperfuse certain areas on reflow. A more important factor is represented by a delayed, progressive fall in flow to areas that initially received adequate reperfusion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Alterations in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium transport in the postischemic "stunned" myocardium.

This study examined the possibility that the postischemic mechanical depression observed in the "stunned" myocardium is a result of an alteration in the control of intracellular calcium. Regional myocardial stunning was produced in five open-chest dogs by eight to twelve 5-minute occlusions of the left anterior descending coronary artery, alternated with 10-minute reflow periods and followed by a final 60-minute period of reperfusion. Systolic segment shortening in the postischemic zone, measured by sonomicrometry, fell from 14.9% at baseline to -1.1% at the end of reperfusion. Sarcoplasmic reticulum isolated from stunned myocardium demonstrated a 17% reduction in oxalate-supported 45Ca2+ transport compared with sarcoplasmic reticulum from normal myocardium (0.93 vs. 1.12 mumol Ca2+/mg protein/min, p less than 0.005). There was also a 20% decrease in the maximal activation by Ca2+ of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+, Mg2+-ATPase (2.46 vs. 1.96 mumol Pi/mg protein/min, p less than 0.005), and a downward shift in the Ca2+-activation curve of the Ca2+, Mg2+-ATPase. These results indicate that myocardial stunning is associated with damage to the calcium-transport system of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Altered intracellular control may contribute to the inability of the stunned heart to maintain normal mechanical function.

Animals↗

Evaluation of a new inotropic agent, OPC-8212, in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure.

OPC-8212 is a new positive inotrope with a unique mechanism of action. To assess its clinical utility we administered 60 mg/day for 30 days to 10 patients with overt congestive heart failure, who had substantial limitations in exercise performance despite treatment with conventional therapy. Patients were evaluated by simultaneous respiratory gas exchange and radionuclide ventriculography measurements during graded maximal exercise testing. Improvement was demonstrated in both peak oxygen uptake and radionuclide-determined cardiac index after 30 days of treatment with OPC-8212. These changes were not associated with alterations in heart rate at rest or during peak exercise. Furthermore OPC-8212 significantly decreased ventricular ectopy in our patients. However, two patients had possible hematologic toxicity with prolonged use. The results of the present phase II study suggest that a larger randomized double-blind placebo study to evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of this drug is warranted.

Adult↗

Effect of postural changes, nitroglycerin and verapamil on diastolic ventricular function as determined by radionuclide angiography in normal subjects.

Whereas improvement in diastolic function indexes in response to therapeutic interventions has been attributed to a beneficial effect of the intervention, measurements of diastolic function appear to be influenced by changes in loading conditions, heart rate and sympathetic tone. To determine the effect of body position and short-term pharmacologic intervention on radionuclide angiographically determined left ventricular peak filling rate, high temporal resolution time-activity curves and absolute left ventricular volumes obtained by equilibrium-gated blood pool scans were evaluated in 12 normal subjects in the supine position at rest and in response to several postural and pharmacologic manipulations. This study confirmed the reproducibility of the technique and demonstrated that in normal subjects, peak filling rate varies in response to changes in body position and to short-term administration of sublingual nitroglycerin and intravenous verapamil. Peak filling rate ranged from 3.3 to 5.1 end-diastolic volumes (EDV)/s with a variability of 13.7% during five baseline supine measurements in the 12 subjects. Compared with values in the supine position (mean +/- SEM = 4.38 +/- 0.24 EDV/s), peak filling rate increased +16 +/- 6% to 4.75 +/- 0.27 EDV/s in the upright position (p less than 0.05) but did not change significantly with leg elevation. Peak filling rate at baseline and during postural changes correlated significantly with ejection fraction (r = +0.49), with stroke volume (r = +0.26) and inversely with end-systolic volume (r = -0.41), but did not correlate with heart rate or blood pressure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Risk factors in siblings of people with premature coronary heart disease.

Prior studies of the contribution of coronary disease risk factors to familial aggregation of premature coronary disease may have underestimated risk factors by relying on self-reported risk factor prevalence levels or, when risk factors have been measured, by using cut points in excess of the 90th percentile. To determine the actual prevalence of hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes, and the awareness of these coronary risk factors in unaffected family members, 150 apparently coronary disease-free siblings of 86 people who had documented coronary disease before 60 years of age were studied. All subjects participated in a 1 day screening preceded by a self-administered risk factor questionnaire and a personal interview. Participation of both the index patients and siblings exceeded 86%. With the use of nationally established recommendations for blood pressure and lipids, which are based on coronary disease risk curves, screening revealed that 48% of brothers and 41% of sisters were hypertensive, 45% of brothers and 22% of sisters had a lipid abnormality, 38% of siblings were current cigarette smokers and 4.7% were diabetic. Two or more risk factors were present in 42% of brothers and 26% of sisters. More than 75% of siblings had one or more risk factors that would require intervention. When compared with a race-, gender- and age-matched reference population from the Lipid Research Clinics Prevalence Study, distributions for blood pressure and for total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol were higher for the siblings in every gender and age group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Nifedipine in acute myocardial infarction: an assessment of left ventricular function, infarct size, and infarct expansion. A double blind, randomised, placebo controlled trial.

The influence of nifedipine on left ventricular ejection fraction, infarct size, and infarct expansion was studied in a prospective, double blind, randomised, placebo controlled trial in 132 patients with low risk acute myocardial infarction of less than 12 hours duration, defined by an initial left ventricular ejection fraction greater than 35% and clinical Killip class of less than or equal to II. Sixty four patients were assigned to nifedipine 120 mg/day and 68 to placebo. Treatment was started on average (SEM) 8.0 (0.2) hours after onset of pain and continued for six weeks. Gated blood pool scans, thallium scans, and cross sectional echocardiograms were performed before treatment and at 10 days. There were no significant differences between the two groups in age, sex, cardiac risk factors, or use of other medications. Mean (SEM) global left ventricular ejection fraction was not different before treatment (nifedipine group 53 (2%), placebo group 55 (2%) and did not differ at 10 days (nifedipine group 54 (2%), placebo group 52 (2%). There were also no differences in regional wall motion or regional ejection fractions. Thallium defects quantified by computer analysis were similar in both groups before treatment (nifedipine 7.8 (0.7), placebo 7.9 (0.7)) and at 10 days (nifedipine 5.3 (0.7) placebo 5.3 (0.7)). In the subgroup of patients with transmural infarction who had good quality echocardiograms and serial studies (n = 30), there was no difference in mean (SEM) baseline infarct segment lengths between the two groups (nifedipine 70 (4) mm, placebo 65 (4) mm); however, the nifedipine group demonstrated no significant change in infarct segment length between the initial and 10 day studies ( + 0.6 (3) mm) while there was a significant increase in the infarct segment length in the placebo group (+ 7.8 (4) mm). The infarct segment length increased by >/= 1 cm in seven (47%) placebo patients but in only one (7%) nifedipine patient. The nifedipine group had a significant initial 10% decrease in mean arterial pressure whereas there was no change in the in the placebo group; this blood pressure difference persisted for 10 days. Thus although the early administration of nifedipine has no detectable effect on clinical outcome and infarction size, it may reduce early infarct expansion via an afterload reduction mechanism in patients with transmural infarction. These initial results must be interpreted with caution and need to be confirmed in a larger trial.

Adult↗

Effect of afterload resistance on end-systolic pressure-thickness relationship.

The influence of afterload resistance on the end-systolic pressure-thickness relationship (ESPTR) was assessed in six isolated canine left ventricles made to eject into a simulated arterial system. An increase of simulated peripheral resistance from 1.5 to 6.0 mmHg.s.ml-1 resulted in a modest but significant shift of the ESPTR upward and to the right, indicating augmented contractile performance. A relationship between the extent of systolic wall thickening and end-systolic performance was also observed: increased wall thickening impairing and decreased wall thickening enhancing end-systolic performance. The dependence of end-systolic performance on wall thickening history in this setting is consistent with shortening deactivation. This phenomenon appears to account at least in part for the observed shift in the ESPTR with altered afterload resistance.

Animals↗

Myocardial oxygen consumption, oxygen supply/demand heterogeneity, and microvascular patency in regionally stunned myocardium.

Although oxygen consumption closely parallels mechanical work in the normal heart, previous studies have found that stunned myocardium may have normal or even increased oxygen consumption despite depressed function. In this study we used microspectrophotometry to measure the oxygen saturations within arteries and veins of less than 100 micron diameter in quick-frozen biopsy samples from normal and regionally stunned myocardium of 10 open-chest anesthetized dogs. Regional myocardial blood flow, measured by radioactive microspheres, was similar in stunned and normal regions, as was mean arteriolar oxygen saturation. However, mean venous oxygen saturation was lower in the stunned region (epicardium 38.0% vs 43.8%, p less than .02; endocardium 36.2% vs 39.5%, p = .12), indicating increased oxygen extraction and consumption, despite a marked reduction in mean systolic segmental shortening from 14.4% to 0.5%. In addition, there was greater vein-to-vein heterogeneity of oxygen saturation in the stunned region, with an excess of veins having low saturations (statistically significant in epicardium, nonsignificant trend in endocardium). Microvascular injections studies with Microfil or drafting ink revealed filling of over 95% of arterioles and 85% of capillaries in the stunned region, similar to the findings in the normal region. Our results are consistent with an inefficient transfer of energy into myocyte contraction or an increased use of energy for noncontractile activities in stunned myocardium. In addition, the finding of increased heterogeneity of oxygen extraction suggests that the injury to stunned myocardium may not be uniform to all contractile elements, but instead may be focally and irregularly distributed.

Animals↗

Technetium-99m methoxyisobutyl isonitrile (RP30) for quantification of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion in dogs.

This study was done to determine whether [99mTc]methoxyisobutyl isonitrile (RP30), a nonredistributing myocardial perfusion agent, could be used to quantify regional myocardial blood flow distribution during ischemia and reperfusion, employing sequential injections of tracer, tomographic imaging, and appropriate image subtraction. Dogs underwent transient (6 min) coronary artery occlusion, followed by two paired injections of RP30 and radioactive microspheres combined with tomographic imaging, the first during coronary occlusion and the second after 60 min of reperfusion. To obtain a true image representative of reperfusion, the first set of images was corrected for 99mTc decay and subtracted from the second. During occlusion, tissue microsphere content and scintigraphic RP30 activity in the center of the ischemic region (both expressed as a fraction of the nonischemic region) were closely correlated, although RP30 consistently exceeded microsphere content (0.43 +/- 0.03 vs. 0.24 +/- 0.04, p less than 0.01). Direct tissue counting of RP30 confirmed its relative excess in ischemic myocardium. Reperfusion was successful in 7/8 dogs, with an increase in RP30 activity to 0.98 +/- 0.04 compared to 0.89 +/- 0.03 for microspheres (p = N.S.). In one dog with microsphere-documented persistent ischemia, the RP30 defect was still present after reflow. Our results indicate that because of the lack of myocardial clearance and redistribution, repeat injections of RP30 can be used to quantify serial changes in regional myocardial blood flow.

Animals↗

Correction for patient and organ movement in SPECT: application to exercise thallium-201 cardiac imaging.

We describe a technique for correction of artifacts in exercise 201Tl single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images arising from abrupt or gradual translational movement of the heart during acquisition. The procedure involves the tracking of the "center of the heart" in serial projection images using an algorithm which we call "diverging squares". Each projection image is then realigned in the x-y plane so that the heart center conforms to the projected position of a fixed point in space. The shifted projections are reconstructed using the normal filtered backprojection algorithm. In validation studies, the motion correction procedure successfully eliminated movement artifacts in a heart phantom. Image quality was also improved in over one-half of 36 exercise thallium patient studies. The corrected images had smoother and more continuous left ventricular walls, greater clarity of the left ventricular cavity, and reduced streak artifacts. Rest injected or redistribution images, however, were often made worse, due to reduced heart to liver activity ratios and poor tracking of the heart center. Analysis of curves of heart position versus projection angle suggests that translation of the heart is common during imaging after exercise, and results from both abrupt patient movements, and a gradual upward shift of the heart. Our motion correction technique appears to represent a promising new approach for elimination of movement artifacts and enhancement of resolution in exercise 201Tl cardiac SPECT images.

Coronary Disease↗

Assessment of myocardial blood flow by real-time infrared imaging.

In order to evaluate the applicability of infrared imaging for the assessment of myocardial perfusion, 10 open-chested dogs were studied by a real-time infrared imaging system. The left anterior descending coronary artery was occluded for 90 min followed by 210 min of reperfusion. During the experiment, myocardial surface temperature was mapped by an infrared imaging system with a thermal resolution power of 0.1 degree C and correlated with regional myocardial blood flow measured using radiolabeled microspheres. Following the experiment, acute myocardial injury was evaluated using triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. After 90 min of ischemia, there was a significant correlation between myocardial blood flow and myocardial surface temperature (R = 0.694, P less than 0.001). After reperfusion, temperature did not correlate with blood flow, but there was a significant correlation between temperature and ischemic myocardial injury (R = 0.551, P less than 0.05). Temperature changes during acute regional ischemia and reperfusion may be regulated by the changes in myocardial blood flow and myocardial metabolism. Temperature analysis using real-time infrared imaging may be a useful means for the evaluation of myocardial blood flow and myocardial injury during ischemia and reperfusion.

Animals↗

Preserved high energy phosphate metabolic reserve in globally "stunned" hearts despite reduction of basal ATP content and contractility.

Impaired energy production has been proposed as one mechanism to explain the contractile abnormality in post-ischemic "stunned" myocardium. If energy production were impaired, administration of inotropic agents should result in a deterioration of cellular energy stores because of an inability of ATP synthesis to match the rate of increased utilization. In this study we correlated changes in myocardial high energy phosphates, measured by 31P-NMR spectroscopy, with changes in left ventricular function and energy requirement in buffer perfused rabbit hearts following ischemia and reperfusion, and during stimulation with isoproterenol. Hearts were stunned by 20 min of zero flow global ischemia at room temperature. After reperfusion, isovolumic developed pressure returned to 77.8 +/- 2.2% of baseline and ATP content was reduced to 80.9 +/- 4.1% of baseline. Isoproterenol (5 x 10(-8) M for 10 min) caused increases in developed pressure and rate-pressure product (to 134.1 +/- 12.6% and 195.0 +/- 21.4% of baseline, respectively) without a decrease in ATP or phosphocreatine (PCr) content (80.0 +/- 7.1% and 103.0 +/- 3.8% of preischemia, respectively), and without functional or metabolic deterioration of the hearts after discontinuation of the drug. Control hearts not subjected to ischemia showed similar functional and metabolic responses to isoproterenol. The phosphocreatine/inorganic phosphate (PCr/Pi) ratio, an index of the balance between energy production and utilization, was higher (not lower) than baseline in stunned hearts, thus confirming that energy production was not intrinsically impaired. Together these data indicate that despite reduced myocardial ATP content, mitochondrial function in stunned hearts is capable of sustaining a large increase in function and energetic requirements.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

Effect of repeated episodes of drug-induced ventricular dyskinesia on subsequent regional function in the dog: comparison with myocardial stunning produced by repeated coronary occlusions.

Stunned myocardium can be produced by repeated short episodes of ischemia. Histochemical and ultrastructural abnormalities such as sarcomere lengthening and myofiber thinning have been noted in myocardium soon after the onset of ischemia and have been attributed to the mechanical stretching that occurs during ventricular systole. To test whether mechanical forces alone could produce the residual dysfunction seen in stunned myocardium, regional dyskinesia was produced in open chest dogs by six repeated intracoronary infusions of either potassium chloride, 0.2 mEq/min for 2.5 minutes, or lidocaine, a 10 mg bolus followed by 1 to 3 mg/min for 5 minutes. These dogs were matched with dogs that had six repeated coronary occlusions of 2.5 and 5 minutes' duration, respectively. Regional function was analyzed using fractional systolic shortening and the load-independent end-systolic pressure-length relation. Both potassium chloride and lidocaine produced regional dyskinesia that was similar to the dyskinesia produced by coronary occlusion. Although regional ventricular function after repeated coronary occlusions remained significantly reduced, function returned completely to normal within 5 minutes after the last drug-induced dyskinesia. In conclusion, regional dysfunction produced by potassium chloride and lidocaine does not produce residual dysfunction despite mechanical forces during systole similar to those seen during coronary occlusion.

Animals↗

Collateral blood flow after coronary occlusion: influence of barbiturate anaesthesia and thoracotomy.

A study was undertaken to determine whether barbiturate anaesthesia, with or without thoracotomy, adversely affects collateral blood flow during acute coronary artery occlusion. Twelve dogs were instrumented with an electromagnetic flow probe and pneumatic occluder on the left circumflex artery; seven days later, in the conscious state, complete coronary artery occlusion was induced for 8 min. Heart rate, mean aortic pressure, and subendocardial and subepicardial blood flow in the ischaemic zone were measured by radioactive microspheres before and 5 min into coronary artery occlusion. Measurements were repeated after pentobarbital 30 mg.kg-1 (n = 7) and after pentobarbital plus thoracotomy (n = 12). Compared with the conscious state, pentobarbital and thoracotomy produced a decrease in endocardial blood flow in the ischaemic zone (0.21(0.04) to 0.15(0.03) ml.min-1.g-1) and a modest redistribution from endocardium to epicardium (ratio of endocardial to epicardial flow 0.55(0.06) to 0.49(0.07) ml.min-1.g-1), coincident with an increase in heart rate from 127 to 178 beats.min-1 but no change in mean arterial pressure. Directionally similar, but smaller, changes occurred during anaesthesia without thoracotomy. To determine the role of tachycardia five of the animals were studied in the conscious state during a 50% increase in heart rate induced by atrial pacing. A similar decrease occurred in coronary blood flows as with anaesthesia. The results indicate that barbiturate anaesthesia and thoracotomy produce a diminution in collateral flow to ischaemic myocardium, together with an accentuation of its transmural maldistribution, and suggest that anaesthetic induced tachycardia is primarily responsible for these flow alterations.

Anesthesia, Intravenous↗