Evidence that continuous normothermic blood cardioplegia offers better myocardial protection than intermittent hypothermic cardioplegia.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Glutathione in this randomized controlled trial publication.

To compare transmyocardial ischaemia and oxidative stress, as well as non-infarction myocardial injury, in patients randomised to intermittent hypothermic cardioplegia or continuous normothermic blood-potassium cardioplegia.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 24 patients taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are middle-aged adults, both men and women.

24 patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass surgery were randomised to hypothermic (13 patients, mean (SEM) age 59.5 (2.6) years) or normothermic (11 patients, mean (SEM) age 59.7 (3.3) years) cardioplegia.

Non-infarction myocardial injury was assessed by measurement of creatine kinase MB isoenzyme activity from peripheral venous blood taken 2 and 18 h after surgery.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

Because people in this Glutathione study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Transmyocardial oxidative stress and ischaemia were assessed by the difference in plasma concentrations of oxidised glutathione and lactate respectively, from samples taken simultaneously from the coronary sinus and aortic root.

Blood samples were taken just before cross clamp application and at intervals up to 15 min after cross clamp release.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Cardiopulmonary Bypass, Creatine Kinase, Glutathione, Glutathione Disulfide, Heart Arrest, Induced, Isoenzymes and Lactates.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Glutathione in 24 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 1995 (British heart journal), a journal based in England.

More context: the related Glutathione library page, all human trials.