Experimental coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion

Unstable angina pectoris, acute myocardial infarction, sudden coronary death, but also the application of coronary angioplasty, are all characterized by acute coronary arterial damage, activation of platelets and the coagulation cascade, liberation of vasoactive substances and growth factors. During the last decade, the increased application of thrombolytic therapy and percutaneous coronary angioplasty have provided us with better clinical results, but also with new problems. The prevention of thrombotic occlusion, the efficacy of arterial recanalization, as well as the prevention of early reocclusion and later restenosis are all subject to increased research efforts. In the present thesis a model of thrombotic coronary occlusion has been described. In this model it was demonstrated that two experimental drugs, the stable prostacyclin analogue iloprost and the thromboxane receptor blocker solutroban, may be useful for clinical testing to prevent this potentially life-threatening event. Using the same animal model for coronary thrombosis, it was shown that the addition of the calcium antagonist nifedipine to a thrombolytic agent, improves myocardial perfusion in the acute phase of thrombolytic coronary recanalization